The Distant Drums
by gamergirllive
Summary: Her village won't accept her because of her strange dark hair and tail. Though she is only halfblood of the species, she only wants to fit in. Her world, however is changed forever when her planet is invaded by three men of a strangely familiar heritage.
1. The Muttgirl

**Disclaimer:** Obviously I don't own DB/Z/GT or any of it's characters, settings, etc. I do however own all who inhabit Faiasei and Parseri.

Special thanks go out to Karl and Ashley, first of all, for being my proof-readers.

A VERY special thanks to my partner in crime, Meca Vegeta. Without him, actually getting far enough in the story where I was comfortable with beginning to put chapters up here, would have taken ages if at all. His brilliant role-playing as Vegeta helped me in my hours of writer's block and on my mission to attempt to keep Parseri far from Mary-Sue. (still not perfect, so you may find that chapters are subject to change to eliminate and unnecessary sue-ness)

I feel confident in saying that, though I do write the chapters, because of his creative and helpful role-playing, brainstorming, and beta-reading, Meca Vegeta is the co-writer of this fan fiction. Enjoy!

**Chapter One: The Mutt-girl**

A long time, ago, a young creature with vibrant orange hair, and amber eyes held her shawl close to her body as she watched a space pod lift off and fly into the nothingness they called "space." She had just committed what would be a great dishonor to both her people, as he must have done so, against the will of his own. They had fallen in love. A violent soldier of the Saiyan race had fallen in love with a beautiful fire dancer of the Faiajin race. Her name was Hoteri. Knowing that once her child she had conceived with the Saiyan soldier was born, it would immediately be condemned to a life of shame. But she could not kill it, and perhaps this child of hers would make a great difference to her kind someday.

The child was born, years passed, and the child grew into a lovely young lady. Though she was not blessed with the fiery hair color of her people, and was burdened with a tail of a Saiyan, she was blessed with skills of strength and speed that outshone many of her kind. Throughout her life, she strived to be accepted into her community. This is her story…

An average height young woman, donning a simple, short, brown dress. A fiery dark brown tail with orange specks flowed from just above her rear through a small hole in her dress. The tail matched her short, spiked and trendy black hair, with brown and bright orange streaks in it. She ran barefoot down a road with a smile and a hoe and stick with her lunch tied in a handkerchief over her back. It was time to do her chores in the crop fields. Her family grew Radishes for profit, as well as other crops for food for themselves. As she headed towards her family's field she passed by the twins Kashou and Yakedo who stopped to wave and say hi.

"Hi Parseri!" They both chirped in unison.

"Hi guys!" She stopped and smiled energetically at the two flame-haired little boys, "What's up?"

"We were just wondering what you're up to, Mutt-Girl!" One laughed mischievously while the other repeated the nickname, "Yeah, Mutt-Girl!"

"Mutt-Girl..." Parseri's left eye twitched in annoyance, "Really... Where did this one come from…? Have you two been hanging out with Hiito again?"

"Yep!" They replied in unison and skipped off as one of them called back to her as they laughed down the road, "Buh-Bye Mutt-Girl!"

Parseri growled irritably and skulked onward down the road. Once she got to the field, she set her lunch down and started weeding the radishes with her hoe, grumbling to herself,

"That lousy Hiito. Just because I'm a little different, he thinks he's so much better! What makes him think that he's so great that he can just make up stupid..." She roared as she met a difficult weed to dig out and dug her hands into the root to yank it out, "childish..." She yanked hard, nearly falling over, "insulting..." With one hard tug, she pulled it completely out of the dirt and fell backwards on her bottom, shouting in rage, "PATHETIC NICKNAMES!"

"Only because I AM better than you... Mutt-Girl." An arrogant voice scoffed behind her. She turned with a sharp gasp to find a tall and built young man looming over her. He swept a fiery red lock of hair out of his eyes as he smirked down at her. She glared up at him with her bright orange eyes, the only proof that she was part Faiajin, and shouted,

"Go away Hiito! You're not welcome on my family's property!"

"MY father's the village elder," he sneered down at her, "That means that I can go wherever I want, you mutt!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!" She glared up at him in rage. Her lips trembled and her eyes flashed in anger as he laughed down at her, bending to catch her chin in his rough hand,

"I have far more right than you!" He grinned broadly, "You're not even a true Faiajin. You're just a disgraceful hybrid mutt. We have no use for something like you in the Warlock Wars!"

"That's enough Hiito!" A righteous voice behind them shouted. They turned to see Parseri's best friend and her secret crush that she had known since childhood. She never knew why they accepted her as a friend, but everyday she was grateful for it. Her crush was tall and strongly built with a gentle face underneath his messy orange hair. His golden eyes flashed angrily at Hiito as he spoke with a threateningly calm voice,

"Leave my friend alone."

Hiito dropped Parseri and turned fully around, scoffing with a hand on his hip.

"I don't get you Moesakaru... Why do you protect this abomination?"

"Because she's our friend you jerk!" Her best friend, Enkou finally spoke up, clenching her fists as she hollered at him, "Just because your dad's the village elder DOESN'T mean that you're more talented! She's far faster and stronger than you, even without physical training! In fact... I think she's something special because she's different!" She finished, flashing a smile at Parseri, who returned it gratefully.

"Get off your pedestal, woman." Hiito hissed at her, "This freak is of no worth in our village. In fact, she should be cast out! We don't need some mutant with a monkey tail in our land! She's nothing but trouble!"

Moesakaru stepped forward, balling his fists in warning. Hiito glared at him as he started to walk away,

"I'm leaving... don't worry, I'll leave you two to your disgraceful, mutt friend!"

After he was out of sight, Moesakaru and Enkou turned to smile at their friend, only to find her lowered eyes filling with tears, as she fought to hold them in, not wanting to add to her shame. She was used to this. She had been an outcast of sorts her entire life, so she was used to these kinds of taunts. But every once and awhile… every once and awhile, she broke down… Something she hated so much to do. She wanted to be strong.

Enkou kneeled next to her and put a hand on her shoulder to make her look up into her eyes. She smiled warmly down at her,

"Parseri... it's okay... Let go."

Parseri fell forward and wept in her best friend's arms as Moesakaru watched in concern for his dear friend. Finally, he knelt next to them and put a hand on her trembling shoulder,

"It's okay... He's just jealous of your talent. You're so much more advanced than he is in magic and sports... and he's the village elder's son. He's s'posed to be the best, but he's not. He's just using your differences as a scapegoat for his shame." Parseri sat up and looked up at him with eyes shining with wetness and drew in a few sharp breaths as she replied,

"Why do I have to be so different? Why can't I be just like everybody else? I hate this hair and this tail!" She hissed angrily through her tears, "I absolutely hate it… Everyday… I'm just nothing in the eyes of everyone and I can't stand it."

Enkou moved forward, putting her hands lightly on her shoulders in concern,

"But that's not true!"

"You mean so much to us, and your family loves you too!" Moesakaru added. Parseri didn't reply, but lifted her head from her knees, still looking down in shame and sniffled. He smiled down at her and pulled her to his chest in a gentle embrace. She blushed, stunned for a moment and then slowly closed her eyes and returned the embrace.

"How about we walk home together?"

Her eyes shot open as her face grew hot. She smiled meekly and nodded. For some reason she always acted this way around him. She felt so giddy and foolish at the same time. He must have noticed by now after these past years how she felt… and yet he never said a word about it. He certainly never treated her coldly, so he must either not have caught it or he didn't feel alienated. She smiled, still blushing like a child in puppy love… thought she was still a child, after all, though she always denied it… Seventeen summers old.

They all walked home together, and saw each other off at the front gates of each of their houses. Enkou's house came first, and she waved energetically at her two friends before she went inside. They returned the farewell with happy faces, promising to see each other the next day. Parseri's house was next, and Moesakaru smiled down at her,

"Well... see you t'morrow! Good luck in the Witch Games by the way! I know you'll make it in!" He gave her a thumbs up with a smile that would warm anyone's heart. She waved and he turned to leave, when she conjured up the courage within to stop him and ask a question,

"Uhm... Moesakaru..."

He stopped, looking over his shoulder, "Yeah?"

"Tomorrow is an important day for me..."

"I know. What of it."

"Well... uh... You like making bets, right?" She looked down at her hands, clenched around the ends of her dress. Moesakaru turned around and tilted his head to the side in wonder,

"What kind of bet?"

"Uh..." She fidgeted a little until she finally blurted her answer out, "If I make it into the warlock army tomorrow, would you give me my first kiss?" She immediately looked away as her cheeks turned a light pink shade. Moesakaru sighed with a knowing smile and replied, turning away so she wouldn't see his face,

"I can't do that, Parseri; I couldn't leave something like this up to chance... especially if it's important to you."

"Oh, well I..." She stammered as her face turned bright red, looking down. He turned around with his warm and gentle smile and stepped forward, eliminating the space between them. He took her chin in his hand, making it tilt upwards. His eyes gazed into hers and she felt her very soul melt in them. His face inched closer to hers and her eyes drooped shut, as he lazily closed his own, slowly until their lips met in a soft and gentle kiss. For a moment, Parseri felt like she was floating, and then it was over. She slowly opened her eyes, coming out of her trance, to meet his golden eyes. He smiled at her and planted a small and soft kiss on her forehead before turning and walking away towards his house, waving, not turning back. He called back with a smile on his face,

"Goodnight, Parseri! Good luck tomorrow! You'll make a great fire witch!"

She stood at her front gate, watching him go, until she saw him disappear from sight. She then wandered into the house where good smells greeted her. She breathed in the scent with a smile and sighed,

"Mmm! That smells great!" She poked her head into the kitchen where she found her mother, Hoteri, stirring the contents in a large black pot, "I'm home, mom!"

Hoteri turned her head with a warm, glowing smile, "Parseri! You're back! And just in time for supper! It's almost ready! Go and get Raito and your brother and we'll eat! Okay?"

"Okay!" She replied happily and went into the next room where Raito, her step-father sat in a large, wooden chair in front of a fireplace.

"Hey Raito! Dinner's almost ready! Have you seen Moetsuku?"

He turned his head, greeting her with a smile an answered,

"Try in the backyard."

She smiled and gave him a tight hug, and kissed him on the forehead,

"Love you Daddy Raito!"

He chuckled and gave her a playful and fatherly swat on her bottom,

"Get outta here and fetch your brother." She scrambled out of the room laughing, and he chuckled again, getting back to his book, "Kids."

She poked her head back in with an annoyed expression on her face,

"I'm NOT a KID Raito!"

He blinked turning around, and saw her take off yet again to find her younger brother. He scratched his head,

"Hmm... She's must have the cleanest ears on the planet! Just look how sharp her hearing is!" Parseri knew little of her real father, but she had known Raito all her life. He had been there when she was born and had loved her as his own, so she was content with only acknowledging Raito as her father, and he couldn't be any happier at that fact. They were a strange, but happy and loving family.

Parseri stepped out into the backyard and sighed up at the two setting suns, replaying a few scenes of her day in her mind,

"Why do I have to be so different? I know I'm twice as good as that Hiito, but nobody seems to notice..." Suddenly she recalled Moesakaru's kiss and the image danced around in her head. She blushed and touched her lips gingerly,

"I'll just have to try harder." Her eyes lit up and she clenched her fists as she shouted with a broad smirk upon her youthful face, "Yeah! I'll do my best t'morrow and take my rightful place as a warlock of the Faiajin! I know I can do it!"

"You're LOUD! Why can't you be quiet!" A young and bratty voice called from behind her. With a 'huh?' she looked around until her little eight year-old half brother came into view with a mischievous grin on his face. She gave him a looks of daggers with an evil grin,

"Moetsuku..."

His eyes widened as she pounced on him, putting him into a bear hug, He squirmed out of her grasp and ran into the house calling back to her with laughter,

"You can't catch me, big sister!"

Her eyes sparkled as a big, bright smile spread across her face, and she dashed after him giggling,

"Oh CAN'T I? Wait and see, little brother!"

She caught up with him just as he was about to enter the kitchen, and she whipped the rug out from under him, making him fall flat on his face. She crowed in triumph,

"Yes! Victory is MINE!"

"Oh yeah!" He shouted and in an instant, he leaped onto her back, pounding on her head. She laughed and fell down to the ground to humor him. Soon they were just two siblings getting in a humorous scuffle on the living room rug, laughing and throwing punches, though not serious ones. Hoteri blinked down at the two and cleared her throat to get their attention. They looked up at her absently and she smirked,

"Dinner's ready."

They all sat around the table, sipping the broth from the large pot and nibbling on vegetables. Raito took a sip of his dark red wine from a wooden goblet and smiled at Parseri who sat across from him,

"So, you ready for the witch trials, Parseri?"

"Uh-huh! More ready than ever! I know I can get into the army!" She replied cheerily, digging into her salad. Parseri couldn't put her finger on it, but since before she was born, she had always remembered wanting to join. It seemed to quench a thirst that she couldn't explain even to herself… A thirst that seemed ancient in a way.

Hoteri beamed with pride, as she listened to her daughter's confidence and then looked at Moetsuku who was picking at his vegetables,

"Moetsuku, eat your greens."

"But mama! They're gross!" He complained.

"C'mon bro, you'll grow up big and strong! Just like me!" Parseri smirked, sitting up tall.

"You? Strong? Ha! You're too scrawny!" He stuck his tongue out. Parseri stuck her tongue out back at him and Hoteri scolded her,

"Parseri! You're too old for such childish antics. You're about to become a witch."

"Aw mom, I was only playing with him!" She chuckled, scratching the back of her head. Raito and Moetsuku joined in laughing as Hoteri smiled motherly, shaking her head. The family's happy laughter could be heard out on the dirt streets.

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Millions of miles away, deep in space, a tall, green-skinned soldier in strange armor entered a large room, where a small, reptile-like man sat in a large floating throne. The soldier bowed before him and spoke in a refined voice,

"Lord Frieza... The Hannasei is ready for purchase."

The cold and icy man grinned, baring his teeth,

"Very good, Zarbon."

He pushed a button on his throne and floated over to where a large map of the entire universe slowly slid down from a slot in the ceiling. He took out a big, black permanent marker and crossed out a planet with the name Hannasei under it in two swipes, making the marker squeak as he did so.

"There."

A large sweat drop rolled down Zarbon's forehead as he raised an eyebrow. He quickly disposed of this expression before Frieza turned around and spoke with an evil smirk.

"Now Zarbon... I want to take over the Fire Planet. Send a troop to Faiasei."

"Faiasei! But Lord Frieza- That planet is practically living in its stone age. It holds no threat and its resources aren't worth wasting the time for, and all in all, the planet's not worth much."

"QUIET!" Frieza shouted, "You DARE question my choices! If YOU don't want to do it, then send those pathetic SAIYANS to do it. They seem suitable for a job of this size."

"Yes, Lord Frieza." Zarbon bowed and left.

Frieza smirked as he left and then turned back to his large window, "Soon... soon I will control the entire universe."

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When the first sun began to rise, taking all darkness away from the lands, cloaked figures began to travel to the grounds where the ancient fire rituals once took place. Now, this was the site for the Warlock games where new recruits for the Faiajin Magic Army were found through several tests and trials. The first event was for the young men... hand to hand combat. Their task was to knock their opponent down without the use of magic. First up, Moesakaru would be fighting a young man by the name of Hotto. He was short and bulky, but quick... but Parseri knew that Moesakaru would be more than enough to take him down... she was more worried about how he would fare against Hiito. And as she predicted, Moesakaru blew through his first three fights, but when it came to Hiito, things didn't go so well.

They glared at each other from their respective side of the ring drawn in the dirt where the fights were held. Hiito began to smirk at Moesakaru's angry face.

"Scared you'll lose?"

"You wish." Moesakaru slowly in a low tone.

"Still standing by your freakish friend? You could be more, you know..." Hiito leered.

"I _am_ more _because_ I stand by her. That's one thing you never learned from your pampered life is the value of true friendship and all its benefits. You're weak because you have no one to stand by. Only your own self image."

"Hn." He fumed, clenching his fists, "I'm going to make you eat those words, Moesakaru."

"I want a good clean fight, you two..." Sakkidatsu, the master fire mage called, bringing everyone to his attention. He raised his right hand, and formed a large fire ball in his hand. "Ready?" Moesakaru and Hiito crouched in a stance saying that they were ready to lunge at each other with extreme prejudice. Sakkidatsu fired the flame into the sky where it exploded; signifying the beginning of the match, and the two youths lunged forward at each other, not about to hold anything back.

Moesakaru got the first punch, ramming his fist across Hiito's jaw. Hiito hissed in pain and quickly retaliated, shoving his knee into Moesakaru's gut. Moesakaru groaned in pain, holding his stomach with one arm.

Parseri winced, watching the battle continue. It was only after a few minutes of watching, that she remembered that she too had to go to her competition. The women were doing their fire dancing competition during the men's fighting competition. After both were done, everyone had to compete in the great race.

She arrived at the great fire just in time as the Fire Ceremony Trials were about to begin. To pass the test, they had to perform the sacred dance that made the fire grow, and not mess up or miss a beat or step. The steps of the dance were ancient and the teachings were passed down from mother to daughter for generations.

The fire was important, as it gave power to the warriors during battle. The women also had to go through physical conditioning, because the stronger the fire dancer, the larger the fire. The larger the fire, the stronger the warriors could become. It was a very high advantage they had, being that most of their warriors were considerably strong. An old lady, shrouded in robes greeted them. Her name was Nebuto.

"Well then," she croaked. "You all know why you're here, and what you're to do. I expect you all know the correct steps and beats, so I do not have to instruct you any further."

She tossed a conjured ball of fire into the large pile of wood, and it began to catch fire.

"Remember, feel the beat from your inner drum. Hear the music from your soul. Listen to the sirens of war within yourselves and dance, giving the fire flame. It is true, that when a real war came, there would be percussion, but to get into the Fire Dancer district of the Warlock Army, you must prove that you have the percussion within. You may begin on my signal."

Nebuto cast a stern look around at them as they all formed a ring around the burning wood, watching and waiting patiently. A second later, she pointed a long, crooked finger into the air, and shot red sparks, high in the sky.

Parseri moved with the others, stepping forward and then backward in perfect rhythm. Some of the witches lost rhythm, or tripped and were disqualified. Soon there were only five left out of the twenty that had come. Parseri smiled, dancing with the others as the fire grew stronger, reaching higher and higher into the sky.

They danced upon the balls of their feet, bouncing a bit before taking a few steps forward and backward, then thrusting two fists high into the air, looking upward at them as they rose and fell on the balls of their feet in a few sharp bounces. The great flame blazed higher, brighter, and stronger. Sparks flew everywhere, littering the sky.

Nebuto fired red sparks into the air once again with a proud smile upon her face. Parseri and the other four competitors stopped dancing and looked upon her face, and then looked at the great flame with satisfaction.

"I am very proud of you young ladies. Go now. The great race is about to begin at the town square."

Parseri and the other four girls, made their way to the town square. The other girls were; Kukko, a short, red-headed girl with a temper as quick as Parseri's, Roosuto, a tall, gangly young lady with long, flowing blond hair and orange eyes full of pride, Woomu, a gentle-looking girl, and Shizuru, a fiery young girl who was a friendly acquaintance of Parseri's. She looked at her friend with a smug smile that said, _"We're going to make it."_

Parseri smiled back and looked ahead, seeing the people in the town center come into view. She saw that Moesakaru had made it to the race. She also spotted Hiito, standing tall next to his father with a smug grin upon his face. She glared at him as she came closer. He had spotted her as well, and he narrowed his eyes with distaste and disappointment that she had passed her first test as well. When she reached him, she stood up tall, their noses almost touching. They did nothing but glare at each other with utmost contempt. Then Hiito spoke,

"Ready to lose, mutt-girl?" he sneered.

"Only if you are, scumbag." she spat back.

The master fire mage, Sakkidatsu called order to the vast crowd. Most of the competitors in the great race were men, but Parseri, Kukko, Roosuto, Woomu and Shizuru took their place at the starting line alongside the men with great pride and spirit. They would all try their best, but Parseri was competing to win.


	2. The Race

**Disclaimer:** Y'know… I had the disclaimer in the first chapter. If you've forgotten who owns what, go back and check.

**Author's Note:** No reviews, huh? Well I admit that a chapter with eight to ten pages can be intimidating, but I'm just gonna say it flat out: I won't post a chapter with less than eight pages. I like to read, and I don't always like things getting cut short. I know there's people who love to read about as much as I do, so this story is more for the non-lazy readers. I know it's also irking to have an original character be a main character because original characters usually go hand-in-hand with Mary-Sue-ism. That is not my goal for this story or character. (I'm going to just write a series of one-shot fics for those days when I can't control myself P) I don't want Parseri turning into one. If you read something that you find Mary-Sueish, please feel free to review and tell me about it and why you think she shouldn't act, or react in that fashion, and I will be happy to discuss it with you and perhaps even change it. Revise revise revise, as my Comp 2 professor always says. Well. Enough babbling. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter Two: The Race**

Sakkidatsu raised his palm high into the air and fired a fire blast into the sky, starting the race. As soon as the flames exploded into the night sky, the youths sprinted from the starting line.

Though the careers of Fire Warrior and Fire Dancers were very different from each other, both were expected to be quick and agile. The Fire Warriors had to be quick and agile to dodge and attack with success, while the Fire Dancers must be quick and agile to keep up with the fierce beat of the drums of war and deliver power to the warriors. The quicker the beat and the better in sync the dancers were, the more power the warriors would receive, thus, aiding them in their battles if their people were attacked-- It was not the Faiajin way to attack first, but to use their powers only for defense if their way of life was threatened… Even though every species in this universe is different, they hold one similarity: There is always corruption in their ranks, so there were many Faiajin communities seeking power and land, so it was normal in many villages nowadays to train an army for defense.

The course this year was difficult. As always, it was marked off by illusions of fire on the ground, creating something of a trail to follow, wide enough for three people to run side by side in. It was not against the rules to go outside the trail, but it was unadvised, because inside the flames was the quickest way through the course to the finish line. If Parseri would take too wide of a turn on one of the several sharp ones, it would take her slightly out of the flamed trail, and she would fall behind another who had been able to turn the corners sharply.

Parseri was in the middle of the group, looking for a chance to move up a rank. She could tell that the other blood that ran through her veins came from a race of people who were quick, for she had always been an exceptionally good runner. She ignored how raw the bottom of her bare feet were becoming from the rough gravel of the road, and started to pick up speed, passing Woomu and a young man by the name of Hidane.

The race drug on, taking them around the village, out passed the forest of dead, bare and dusty trees and back towards the village. Parseri had managed to pass Moesakaru and was now in second place. Growing tired, she saw that Hiito was a ways in front of her. She grit her teeth and pushed herself to run faster, feeling a tingling sensation in her legs that told her they might go numb. Trying hard to inhale through her nose instead of her mouth, she sluggishly caught up with Hiito, just as they were reaching the boundaries of the village. The finish line was not too far off… Just a little longer until she reached the finish line at the town square in the center of the village. She could just see the turn that would take her into the town square ahead of her now, and she was neck and neck with Hiito.

Her legs were screaming in pain from being pushed too hard, but she kept going, trying to urge them to go faster. She had to pass Hiito. She couldn't lose to him. If she could take this corner sharply, she could squeeze in front of him. He would be on the outside of the turn, giving her the advantage over him. With her teeth clenched tightly together, she sprinted onward, nearing the turn. She glanced quickly at Hiito to see him glaring straight forward. He was concentrating on the turn just as much as she was.

When she reached the turn, she turned as sharply as she could. She would have made it through perfectly if she would have taken another thing into consideration; her competition. Taking the turn, Hiito leaped in front of her to take the inside of the curve, knocking her over and out of the flaming trail. She tumbled into a scratchy bush outside someone's house. She saw several of her competitors rush by as she tried to urge herself to get up, but her legs felt heavy. As she watched Woomu, the Faiajin in last place sprint by with staggering breaths, she gave into her fatigue and just laid limp in the bush. It wasn't long after that before she heard cheers of Hiito's name erupt from around the corner. After she found the strength to stand and walk, she turned and walked back towards the exit of the village.

Hours later, she found herself far beyond the dusty forest and closer to one of the neighboring villages. She had climbed a tree to the highest limb and curled into a ball, hugging her legs and resting her head upon her knees.

She was so sad and disappointed that she wanted to cry, but was too angry to form the tears in her eyes.

"That wasn't fair…" She moaned, sorrowfully, "That was such a dirty trick. I hate him so much…"

She bit her lower lip in anger. She wanted to hurt him. Kill him. She hated him more than anything. Since the day they had met, he had made her life a living hell. She looked up into the distance towards the village in front of her, glaring ahead. She stayed that way for sometime, just brooding and pouting over her defeat. With a long sigh, she began to stretch her legs out, getting ready to climb down and head home, when something caught her eye.

Three balls of fire were falling from the sky at great speed. She squinted at them as they dropped. Shooting stars perhaps? They struck the ground a ways behind a nearby village in front of her, causing three earthquakes, nearly shaking her from the tree. As she now hung upside down, clinging tightly to the branch she had been sitting on, she looked ahead towards the area where they hit before slipping down onto the branch below her. She proceeded climbing down the tall tree, intending to go and see the crash site, when she heard a shrill scream come from the village. Her head snapped in that direction just in time to see a small hut explode into flames. She stared wide-eyed, not believing what she had just seen when more houses burst into flames. The air was rich with screams, and Parseri caught sight of the signal fire being lit. The village was under attack. As she looked to her right, other signal fires were being lit, one by one, trying to warn all neighboring villages. She leapt the rest of the way to the ground, stumbling into a run. She had to get back home to defend her family. As she ran, she noticed that ahead of her, the signal fires were getting closer to her village. She smirked to herself,

"They won't catch my village so off-guard. We'll be ready."

Suddenly, something else in the sky caught her eye. What looked like three shadowed figures had zoomed across the sky in the general direction of her village. The shadows looked like people… but that was ridiculous. People couldn't fly.

The sky seemed to be reddening as she became closer to her village. She pushed her way through the dead forest, looking ahead as the dry trees began to thin. When she burst through the last of the trees and dashed up the hill that overlooked her village, she found everything burning. She seemed to freeze for what seemed like forever before sprinting down the hill and into the fiery village, first to the Great Flame. The Great Flame was roaring and high in the sky, and around it were the bodies of the fire dancers, some of which she picked out to be her friends that had been recruited that very day. She bit her lip in worry and rushed towards her house. The streets were littered with corpses, many of whom she saw were warriors. How could this happen!

Her house, like the rest of the village was burning, and she stood in front of it in fear for the worst. She covered her face with her arm and pushed through the door into her house. It was filled with smoke, and flames were licking the ceiling.

"Momma?" She called out, coughing from the thick, black smoke. "Daddy Raito? Moetsuku? Where are you?"

Just ahead of her, she found three still bodies. There they were. Her mother, her step father, and her half brother, lying lifeless on the matted floor. Moetsuku looked badly charred in the back, though he wasn't on fire, and his body was soaked with blood. Raito was badly burnt and, gagging, she realized, only half of his body was there. She dropped to her knees next to her mother's body and vomited on the floor. It was then that she heard her mother moan.

"Momma! You're alive!" Parseri exclaimed.

"Parseri…" Hoteri murmured.

"Get up," She ordered desperately, tugging at her mother's limp body, "We've got to get out of here."

"I can't… feel my body anymore…"

"Yes you can!" She shouted, coughing violently, "Now get up!"

"They were just like him… They were just like him…" Hoteri croaked, her eyes beginning to glaze over as her voice grew fainter. Parseri shook her violently, screaming for her mother to get up, but it was too late. She couldn't feel anymore life in her mother's body. She crumpled over the body in tears, until she heard the ceiling above her begin to creak. She looked up at it, her breath staggering. A board fell from the ceiling as it began to collapse. She screamed and leapt back, tears streaming down her face as her house began to fall apart around her. It was getting extremely hard to breath with all the smoke. With one last glance at her fallen family, she fled from the crumbling house.

Collapsing into a fit of coughs and silent tears, Parseri strained her ears for any signs of life. She heard no screams or shouts from anyone. Was no one else alive? She lifted her head and screamed as loud as she could,

"Help! Please, somebody! I need help!"

For a while, she heard no response, until she heard the sound of footsteps. She could tell that they were footsteps of someone huge, and paled when she couldn't think of anyone who could fit the sound of those feet. She looked to her right just as the person belonging to the sound rounded the corner, looking at her from a distance down the street.

This stranger was enormous, and must have been twice her size. He was garbed in foreign clothing, and the only hair on his bald head were two thick black eyebrows, and a mustache. She could only stare, as this large man chuckled lowly and spoke in a rumbling voice,

"Whoops… It looks like I missed one."

He raised the palm of his hand, aiming it at her. Magic. He was going to kill her with some sort of magic. Her eye grew wide as she sat, petrified with fear as blue light was collected into his hand. He chuckled grimly as he fired it at her. She knew that if she stayed there, she would die… but she couldn't move. All her body seemed to let her do was squeeze her eyes shut and brace herself for the hit.

It happened in an instant. She felt herself being yanked around the waist shortly before hearing a great explosion. Her eyes snapped open to see Moesakaru's looking back into them. He looked badly injured, and was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. Her mouth had just began to form his name when he quickly stood, taking her wrist in his hand.

"Come on." He ordered, yanking her up before running in the opposite direction of the giant, dragging her along. Gazing behind them as they ran, she saw the large bald man disappear in thin air. Before she could even wonder what happened, Moesakaru seemed to have run into something hard, falling backward a few yards, and Parseri was swung forward in the inertia. She hit something hard and thick, and was immediately grasped by two large and calloused hands. When she opened her eyes, she was staring at the armored waist of the giant man. In the instant before her chin was forced upward, she noticed with a gasp that something that looked very much like a tail was wrapped around his waist.

"It looks like luck was on your side momentarily, pipsqueak," he laughed, his rumbling laugh, "but it looks like your luck has run out." He twisted her around to look at Moesakaru, who was starting to stand up. He held her roughly around the waist with one arm as his other arm stretched out towards Moesakaru. She saw blue light collect in his gigantic palms once again, and she screamed,

"N-no! Please!"

The giant laughed as he fired at Moesakaru, and in a blinding, screaming light, he was gone. When Parseri open her eyes again, there wasn't even a pile of dust left of him. Mouth open, and with tears dribbling from her eyes, she emitted a weak, strangled sound.

Suddenly, another man dropped from the sky and landed where Moesakaru once stood. This man wasn't as tall as the man holding her was, but he was still pretty big. He wore a colder expression than the other, and he had a huge mane of thick, black hair that nearly swept the ground. She noticed with a pang of shock in her heart, that he too, had a tail around his waist. When he spoke, he had a rough, curt voice,

"Nappa, you know we don't have time for that. We have to get back."

The big one, who the other had called Nappa chuckled again and answered,

"Yeah, okay, you're right. I'll get rid of her." He loosened his grip on her momentarily, and Parseri slipped out of his grasp, "Hey!"

She attempted to sprint past the shorter of the two, but in a lightening quick moment, he had snatched her by the wrist and yanked her backward toward him.

"Nice catch, Raditz." Nappa said.

The one called Raditz looked her over with a smirk as he kept a firm hold on her wrist. She watched his expression change as his eyes moved lower and lower. Suddenly his eyes stopped and widened slightly. She followed his gaze and realized that he was looking at her tail, waving in a frightened manner around her ankles. She turned shakily and saw that the one called Nappa had noticed this as well, and he too wore the same stunned expression.

"She's… She's a Saiyajin…" Nappa murmured deeply.

"Yeah. Must be… at least part of her is." Raditz agreed in a hollow voice, "Look at her hair…"

"It's a bit different, but it's still Saiyajin hair."

Something suddenly clicked in Parseri's head. She heard her mother's voice moan,

_"They were just like him… They were just like him…"_

She must have been talking about her father. Her father must have been like these men. They both had tails, and dark hair… it fit. She began to shudder. Was this her other heritage? Was she somehow linked to these monsters?

"It's too hot here," Nappa complained, sweating from all the burning buildings, "Let's go and find Vegeta. I'm sure he'll be interested in our new friend here."

With that, Parseri was scooped up under one arm of Raditz' around her waist, and to her astonishment, they lifted off the ground in flight and flew over to the hill that overlooked her village. There, she was dropped, with a warning to not run… but Parseri didn't seem to hear anything. She staggered forward a few steps and sank onto her hands and knees, shaking, as she watched her village burn lower and lower to the ground. She wanted to howl in tears… but they wouldn't come. She couldn't even force them… and suddenly, all she could feel was anger. As she sat there, quaking with barely contained rage, she heard a third voice bark from behind her,

"What are you two buffoons doing? If you're done playing, I suggest we head back to our ships." His voice sounded cool and forceful. She could tell that he must be the authority figure between the three of them.

"We found something." Nappa spoke, yanking Parseri backward by the tail, "Thought you'd find her interesting."

Parseri yelped in pain and tumbled in front of a short man who wore a threatening glare and a head full of jet black hair that stood straight up. He wore the same armor, and also had a tail wrapped around his waist. He glared at her through an eye piece of some sort that they all wore, and she saw his eyes make the familiar movement down to her tail. His eyes flickered, widening for a split second before narrowing again into a glare.

"A Saiyajin?" He murmured slightly before a broad grin spread across his wicked face, "She can't be pureblooded, but it's still pretty remarkable that we found a hybrid female on this backwater planet." He laughed cruelly as he continued, the others chuckling as well, "This place was such a boring place to destroy, and an insult to our strength… Perhaps you are our reward for a job well done, eh?"

_"Boring? An insult?" _Parseri echoed his words in her head, _"How… how could he say that? That monster… How could he say such a thing! How could they do this!"_ Her breathing became ragged and her face grew hot with rage. They all seemed to find her reaction amusing, because they continued their laughter. Quick as a flash, Parseri was up on her feet and looming over the short man. She was a full head taller than him at the very least. Without so much as a second thought, she lurched forward and grappled him around his thick neck, pushing her thumbs into his flesh.

Though she was jamming her thumbs into his neck and against his windpipe, he didn't seem to be having any trouble breathing… in fact, he seemed to find this very amusing. This enraged her even more, making her press harder, which still had no effect.

"I HATE you! I hate you all! I'm going to kill all of you! I'll kill you, I swear, I will! I won't let them die in vain!"

His laughter grew louder, and finally he pried her hands off of him with ease, shoving her backward into Nappa, who clamped his large hands firmly onto her shoulders.

"What an amusing child…" The shorter man mused, stroking his chin, as if pondering something. After a few moments, he announced with a ghoulish smirk on his face, "We'll take her back with us, but she can't be seen."

"Wha-?" Her jaw slid open slightly before she was once again scooped up under one arm by Raditz. She squirmed and writhed in an attempt to free herself, but failed, to say the least. He had a strong hold on her, which seemed effortless to him. Her eyes widened once again as they lifted off the ground. What sorcery was this? People couldn't simply fly… or was this normal for their race… and did she possess the ability to do so as well?

They seemed to cover little ground in no time at all, and soon landed near three large craters spread out within a half mile. Parseri looked down into the nearest one, to find a large, round object made of a substance she'd never seen before. She wasn't sure as to what it was, or what it's purpose was, but she was pretty sure that this was one of the three falling objects she had seen in the sky earlier. They had made these craters… she was sure of it. Her train of thought was broken when she was set onto her feet upon the ground beside the crater.

"So what do we do with her once we get back to the base?" Raditz's voice spoke behind her, "The hallways from the deck to the cabins is rarely empty… someone is bound to see her."

"I don't know…" Vegeta murmured, gazing upon her once again, deep in thought. Parseri became aware of how light Raditz's grasp upon her shoulder was getting. Nappa's voice broke in, grasping Vegeta's attention for a moment. To her knowledge, all eyes were off of her.

"We could always hide her tail somehow… That would help a little, at least. That way it would only look like one of us was bringing a dame back for some fun."

"An excellent idea…" Vegeta replied, with a slight smirk. Something inside Parseri snapped. Her eyes widened for a split second and then she closed her eyes, in a calm, but almost annoyed fashion, in a light flinch. She opened her eyes lazily and looked at the hand that Raditz had upon her shoulder. She wasn't going to become a plaything easily. She noted that all eyes seemed to be upon Nappa and Vegeta, and slowly brought her hand up to Raditz's and grasped it, lightly. The movement caught their eyes immediately, as she figured it would. Raditz grunted, a bit confused. She seemed to be grasping his hand in some form of affection. A firm hold, but light and gentle at the same time. He gave a puzzled look to Vegeta, who gave him a quizzical look in return before glancing suspiciously back at the girl. Nappa was simply dumbstruck.

"I thought she hated us." He said lamely. It happened quickly, and without warning. Her grip tightened slightly and she sank her teeth deep into Raditz's hand, drawing a bit of blood. He yelped in surprise, and released her completely for a moment… a moment in which Parseri had been waiting for. Even if escape was highly unlikely, she would take the chance.

In the small moment she was untouched, she lurched to the side away from Raditz's bleeding hand. His free hand attempted to grasp her tail, but had missed, and she felt his rough fingers brush against it as she began to sprint away as fast as she possibly could. It wasn't long before she saw something materialize just before her, but before she herself could fully see it, she heard it.

Nappa and Raditz had attempted to appear right before her at the same time, and had collided with each other in the process, somehow clunking each other in the head. They stumbled onto their backs, clutching their heads, dizzily. Parseri ran full force into this train wreck, and tumbled back a few feet before pushing off again into a dash, leaping over the two fallen giants.

She looked over her shoulder to see if they had gotten to their feet yet, and received a shock. They were just getting to their feet, but the third one, the short one… Vegeta… He was nowhere to be found. She hadn't turned her head back in time to see what had appeared in front of her before she collided with something, and with the inertia of the force, she had completely been flipped over it. With wide eyes, she landed face first into the ground, tumbling a few feet before rolling to a complete stop. She lifted her head to see Vegeta stand up with his back facing her. He had crouched down to a level that would cause her to flip over his shoulder, using only the force of her speed to do so. As he turned his head slowly, smirking over at her lying on the ground, she started to pick herself up.

Her body was covered in cuts and scraps now from the gravel she had skid across, and every moment seemed to sting. He turned around to face her fully just as she made it to her feet, and she began to back away. He stepped forward once, and she staggered slightly, continuing to back away from him. He looked into her eyes with a amused and threatening glare, and she stared right back into his, entranced with fear, that only a deer could understand. Suddenly, she heard sounds that mimicked the rushing wind, and her head snapped from side to side as Raditz and Nappa appeared on each side of her. All three of them were looking at her, not attempting to grab a hold of her, but rather standing in a way, arms folded, upright… a way that dared her to try and run again.

She stopped backing away, and let her eyes travel across each of them, one by one, her forehead sweating nervously. They didn't have to say a word… she knew she was done. Nothing she did could stop them from taking her, only prevent it… and she was running out of the energy to do so. Her head lowered and her hands fell to her sides in defeat. She heard their grim chuckles grow around her, and she lifted her head, glaring up at the shortest one.

"Just kill me. I'd rather die with my people."

Their laughter grew louder as Vegeta's smirk grew broader,

"You're people? How touching. Did you really think you belonged here?"

Her glare flickered into a frustrated frown. Deep down, she knew that she never really belonged with the Faiajin as a whole… but her family… and Moesakaru and Enkou… she belonged with them. She had belonged here with them… and if they were to no longer be here, then she no longer wished to live on without them.

"Just kill me." She repeated slowly.

With a smirk, Vegeta didn't reply, but rather gazed at her for a second more before turning his head and looking toward the other two,

"She'll be riding with me back to Frieza's base. Perhaps I can work some obedience into her during the journey."

With an incredulous and horrified stare, Parseri watched as Vegeta began to approach her, and with a sideways glance, she noticed that Nappa and Raditz had lifted from the ground to coast over to where the other craters were. Vegeta grasped her wrist roughly, and dragged her down into the crater and towards the round object. As they drew near it, she saw, to her astonishment, a part of it begin to open up. She was shoved forward into it first, closely followed by Vegeta before the door closed behind them, sealing them inside this strange contraption.

It was nothing like Parseri had every seen. There were so many glowing lights of different shapes and colors. As she was positioned into Vegeta's lap, she let her eyes wander, completely baffled as to what she was in, or what its purpose was. She remained quiet, and watched him as he pushed something… one of the glowing lights that seemed to be some sort of buttons… only smaller than the large, and stone-like ones she had seen as a child, in the temples. But those buttons had moved stone walls that lead to sacred chambers of their race's Gods. She grew wary as he tapped a few more buttons, and contemplated asking what he was doing, and what it would make happen. But before she could conjure the courage to do so, she felt the surface beneath her begin to rumble. Unaware of what was going on, her breathing became quick and ragged as she looked around in alarm. As her eyes passed over the window, she noticed that they seemed to be moving upward out of the crater, and she watched as they slowly moved higher and higher until she could see over the crater and across the land… but it didn't stop there, and it began to pick up speed. She lurched forward as the ground seemed to get farther and farther away… too far.

The ship began to rumble as it passed through the atmosphere and Parseri, cringed, tensing up. When they had completely left Faiasei, and Parseri opened up her eyes again, she saw a glimpse of what had used to be her home before it was swallowed in the blackness of space.


	3. Parseri: The Last of Two Races

**Author's Note:** Heh heh… Whoops. I had anonymous reviews disabled. I'm sorry… Feel free to review to you heart's content… (please? ) Oh! And I can't believe I forgot to say this in chapter one. It's the most important thing:

This fan fiction was inspired by AnthyRose's fic "The Raddish and the Sprout." Go and read it. She's only got five chapters up but it's really good! This fic was also inspired by the 0304 album of Jewel. The idea of this fan fiction has been working through my mind since the summer of 2003, so a lot of thought and effort has and still is being put into it. I hope you enjoy my work!

* * *

**Chapter Three: Parseri… The Last of Two Races**

Parseri gazed out the window, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She was silent for a few moments, and then, in a hoarse voice, she demanded with a hint of a pleading tone in her voice,

"Take me back…"

Vegeta, who had drooped his head and closed his eyes, enjoying the short span of silence, now lifted his head and lazily opened his eyes with a rather annoyed expression.

"Take me back…" She repeated, as her voice began to falter, "Take me back!"

She whirled around, in her new and foreign environment, rapidly becoming frightened and hysterical,

"Take me _back_!" Her voice was growing louder as she began to shake him, but all he did was sit there and let another smirk slide across his face as he watched her. "You have to take me back!"

"Can't you get her to shut up?" Raditz's voice snarled through the communicator. Parseri jumped and looked around for the source of the voice, becoming even more confused. Vegeta laughed and programmed the computer in the space pod to engage the hibernation program. "Relax Raditz, she'll quiet down in due time."

The lights inside the ship turned off with a snap, and a silent sleeping mist seeped through a vent, meant to put the passengers to sleep until the scheduled arrival to their destinations. Vegeta laid back in his seat and felt himself grow drowsy. Parseri, whom was still in hysterics near the window, in the small space between the seat in which Vegeta sat in, and the door, to which she clung to, now looked around in alarm in the now dark space pod. He could see that she too was getting sleepy, and in no time, saw her begin to slump against the door and slide down into a crumpled ball onto the floor at his feet. It wasn't long after that before he had fallen asleep as well.

* * *

Many hours later, a distant chiming sound met Vegeta's ears before the waking gas fully awoke him. He looked up at the small, transparent navigational screen and smirked. They would reach Frieza's ship within the hour. He looked down, and noticed that the girl was beginning to wake as well. He nudged her with the toe of his boot to urge her to wake faster.

Parseri flinched at a shooting pain in her neck, back and shoulders, for sleeping on the cramped floor, and groaned, still not opening her eyes. She rubbed the back of her neck with a yawn, and opened her eyes slowly, still slightly drowsy.

"Girl, are you going to lie there all day?" Vegeta snapped, jabbing her side with his foot. He was already growing impatient.

Her eyes snapped wide open and she immediately tensed up, remembering where she was. Why couldn't it have just been a bad dream? She squeezed her eyes shut, beginning to tremble. If this wasn't just a bad dream, she didn't think she could take it anymore…

"Hey!" Vegeta growled, as he bent down, stretching his hand towards her. He grasped a handful of her hair and, despite her rather loud shriek of pain, yanked her head upward to make her face him. She stared at him through one eye, the other being squeezed shut. "Are you going to pay attention now, or should I make it hurt more?"

Her squeezed his hand more, pulling her hair tighter, her shrieking grew louder.

"_Stop_ it!"

With a smirk, he released her, allowing her to fall forward onto him. Quick as lightening, she scrambled away from him and back to the door. She pressed her back against it, and stared at him with wide eyes. He chuckled lowly before speaking,

"Well, now that I have your undivided attention, I have a few matters to discuss with you."

He paused for a brief moment to look her over with a scowl and then asked,

"Surely by now, you've figured out why you're still alive…?"

He waited for a response. She only remained silent, staring at him, wide-eyed. He growled through grit teeth and barked,

"When I ask you a question, it would be to your benefit to answer me quickly, and without delay, girl. You're far too valuable for me to kill, but I _can_ make you wish that I would."

She flinched for a moment, before slowly dropping her eyes to her tail, quivering by her ankles. Every hair was standing on end. She gazed at it for a second before lifting her eyes back onto him,

"My… my tail?"

A grin spread across his face and he leaned back, folding his arms over his chest.

"Yes. Clever girl… How very impressive, since you came from such a backwater planet."

She felt a twinge of anger erupt inside of her, but remained silent. He noted this and chuckled to himself, deciding to continue,

"Then you realize that it wouldn't just be the three of us to recognize what you are. And might I add that it would be far worse if you were recognized by anyone other than myself and my men. Let's just say that they wouldn't have any intention on keeping you alive, like I do."

He saw a fresh glimpse of fear shine through her eyes, and he chuckled at her,

"Don't like the sound of that, eh? Well, if you do everything that I say, then you'll survive. And I mean _everything_. I don't take disobedience lightly."

He gave her a sharp glare as he paused and then continued,

"So… let's start with your tail then. I want you to hide it at all times when you're outside my living quarters. Do you understand?"

She looked at her tail, twitching lightly against her leg and then furrowed her eyebrows together,

"But how?"

"I want you to wrap your tail around your waist beneath your clothing."

Parseri did as she was told, and uncomfortably wrapped her tail nearly twice around her thin waist beneath her simple brown dress. It bothered her to wear her tail in this unusual fashion, and it felt like the tail often wanted to unwrap itself. She had to hold her tail in place by putting her hands over it on her dress, to encourage it to stay still. She felt her face begin to grow hot and red with embarrassment. It felt very strange.

"Very good. Now, when we land, its very important that you keep your tail hidden. So I suggest that you leave it this way for the remainder of the trip, so you get used to it."

She nodded in comprehension before he continued,

"Next… Your behavior. You will keep silent while we walk to my living quarters. You will not make a scene, nor will you try to escape. We've already gone through why you shouldn't try escaping, now haven't we?"

She nodded once again.

"Further more, it would make me… quite angry to say the least; and trust me… you don't want that…" He gave her a sharp, threatening glare. " if you _were_ to try and escape from living quarters. You will stay there at all times. You are not allowed to leave under any circumstances unless I am with you. The door will always be locked, and you must always remain quiet, so it seems that no one is inside. Do you understand?"

She nodded one final time before he grinned again.

"Good girl." He paused for a moment, looking her over once again, "What did they call you on that pathetic dirtball?"

She gave him a quick glare before she could catch herself, and then mumbled as she looked away,

"Parseri."

"Parseri…" Vegeta repeated the name, pausing to reflect on it for a moment before grinning again with a sneer, "How very convenient of your mother to give you a Saiyajin name."

It must have been true. Parseri had never heard a name as strange as hers before. Her people were always given names to honor the Gods of fire that grace the planet and people… Her name, given by her mother, seemed to honor her father. She had never told her about her father, but she always smiled whenever she looked at her. She knew she must have looked much like him. The only genetic trait that resembled her mother were her amber eyes.

He looked like he was done speaking with her for the moment, so Parseri turned around and sat up to look out the window. It looked so vast and dark outside… she had never seen anything like it. She saw blurs of what must have been other worlds like hers pass by at great speed, and stayed that way for a long time… a still figure at the window, silhouetted in the darkness that consumed the both of them, save for a few flickering lights of the stars outside, and buttons on the control panel. As a calm fear washed over her, she hoped that this journey would end soon. He never took his eyes off of her.

* * *

Before long, the ship seemed to slow down as they neared what looked like a giant building of some sort, floating in the blackness of space. While she tried to comprehend why this thing was all the way out here and how it was staying afloat, Vegeta sat back in his seat and prepared himself for the landing. With no atmosphere to break through, the landing came without warning to Parseri, except for the feeling that they were going much to fast to slow down in time to land. Her eyes widened a split second before the impact and was flattened into the door, slightly cutting off her scream. Vegeta chuckled to himself and engaged the controls to open the door. When the door fell open, she fell with it and tumbled out, her tail nearly unwrapping itself. She sat up, and leaned forward dizzily, propping herself up by her hands, legs spread, causing her to look very much like a rag doll. As Vegeta picked her up by the back of her dress as if she were a cat, two great quakes happened, and soon Raditz and Nappa stood next to them outside their own now landed ships.

"You remember what I said, girl," Vegeta eyed her as he grabbed her by the wrist, "you won't try anything funny."

"I-I remember…" She stammered, looking nervously into the corridor they were about to enter. It looked so devoid of color and made from a substance that seemed unnatural. It was frightening to look at, and she really didn't want to go in, but as they began to walk, she could only do the same with Vegeta's hand clamped around her left wrist. She jumped a bit when the doors closed behind them and glanced all around in alarm. Since she didn't wear footwear of any kind, she noticed how cold and unfeeling the floor felt. It wasn't like the soft and sandy soil back home. The walls were obviously not made of wood, and the source of light wasn't coming from any sun, nor did it seem to be created by fire. Lights of different color gleamed all around them, and Parseri noticed that they resembled the buttons in the space pod. She saw several, hideous and frightening creatures who glanced at her as they passed on by. They all seemed to be wearing the same strange fashion of clothing that her captors wore.

"We're to report to Frieza." Vegeta ordered his comrades.

"What about the girl?" Raditz asked, eyeing her.

"Don't worry. We'll drop her off on the way."

They seemed to twist and turn through a labyrinth of steel until they stopped in front of a wall. This wall seemed different than the rest of the wall though, and she'd noticed similarities all over the corridor as well. There seemed to be cuts in the wall… and there were buttons next to them. She narrowed her eyes in curiosity as Vegeta pushed a sequence of buttons before the wall slid open. A door. But she had never seen a door like this before.

Without a word he flung her over the threshold and into a room. She whirled around in time to see Vegeta's blank, cold face looking back at her. For a moment they gazed at each other before the door slid shut again, sealing her in. She stood petrified from his gaze… his gaze that reminded her to stay put and keep quiet until he returned… But what would happen when he returned even if she did as she was told?

She clambered over to the door and began pushing buttons, trying to get it open. She pushed each button one at a time, but with no luck. She remembered that there had been a sort of pattern to it when Vegeta had done it. She tried several patterns before giving up with a frustrated whine. She was trapped, and for the first time since she left her planet, she was alone. Pain seemed to seep into her mind as her heart began to pound harder and harder. Her mother. Her step-father. Her little brother. Enkou. Moesakaru. Their faces flashed into her mind. She revisited her flaming village and once again saw the lifeless fire dancers sprawled out amongst the Great Flame. Her breathing became more and more ragged until she felt the hot and stinging sensation of tears in her eyes and flung herself into the nearby cot collapsing into a fit of sobs. She cried for what seemed like forever until she finally fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

Vegeta returned a few hours later to find her curled up in his bed. Closing the door behind him with a smirk, he padded over to her and gazed down at her sleeping form. Her breathing shuddered every now and then, making it obvious to him that she had been very stressed, and know doubt crying before she had fallen asleep. A habit he would have to break her of soon. She was far too emotional for his liking, and seemed to be a bit of a loose cannon, which could prove troublesome in his plans for her quiet imprisonment. He heard her murmur incomprehensible speech in her sleep and raised an eyebrow down at her. She spoke again, and this time he understood it.

"Momma… Momma…"

He snorted and rolled his eyes. He looked down at her with an expression of annoyed disgust.

"Weakling brat…" He grumbled, and nudged her awake with his knee. She moaned and rolled away from him.

"Get up." He barked sharply. His sharp voice acted as an alarm bell and she bolted upright, wide-eyed.

"Get off." He jerked his head sideways, indicating that he wanted her off his bed. Parseri immediately obeyed, not wishing to remain on the cot as long as he planned to be there anyway. His glare chased her to the other side of his small living quarters as he began to remove his chest piece. With a satisfying smirk, he noticed that she looked away as he did so, her face flushed, embarrassed. He discarded his armor as well as his shirt onto the floor next to his bed and sat upon it, now fully facing her and not taking his eyes off of her. He saw her sneak glances back at him a few times to check if he was still shirtless and saw her face redden even more as she averted her gaze again when she saw that he was. A thought dawned on him; she was still a child at heart. It would be a long while before she could bear a child. How long did he think he could keep her a secret? His face hardened into a glare again as he lost himself in thought, still gazing at her.

"What." A fierce voice snapped him out of it and he looked at her. She still wasn't looking at him, but her face had turned into an angry blushing face as a glare of her own was locked onto a spot of the wall to his left. "Stop looking at me."

The force of her voice surprised him almost as much as her guts. A sly smirk spread across his face. "I don't recall you being the one giving orders around here, girl."

"I want you to stop looking at me like that." She repeated through grit teeth. He chuckled and rested his cheek on his fist, propping up his elbow on his knee,

"And what if I don't want to? Heh. Not much to look at anyway…"

That did it. Her face turned a deep scarlet hue and she snapped her head back in his direction and squawked, "I _beg_ your pardon!"

His smirk invited cold, harsh laughter that rattled her very last nerve, making her lose her senses and snap, lunging forward to try and clamp her hands around his throat. How she hated him. She wanted to snap his neck in two. Before her hands could even touch the flesh of his throat, however, his hands flew fast to hers, gripping her wrists tightly, almost painfully. She winced and looked up at his face and met that cold, threatening glare, that shook her very soul. In an instant, the rage was gone, and she shuddered as he spoke,

"You forget your place, and current situation, Parseri."

It seemed more frightening when he called her by her name. He wasn't carrying any traces of amusement or mockery. He had wanted this type of reaction, true, for it proved to him once again, that she held important, yet seemingly unbalanced traits of a Saiyajin… But he couldn't have her throwing fits and causing a ruckus every night. He wanted to draw as little attention to her as possible. He flung her to the floor and resumed speaking,

"You will not raise your voice, nor fist to me. Is that clear? I remember instructing you to remain quiet at all times. You're no use to me if you can't follow simple orders. And you _don't _want to find to find out what I do to those who I find a lack of use in." He paused, and she seethed silently, making him smirk.

"You never said anything about when you were in the room with me, _Sir_," She spat the word out with venom, staring angrily at the tiles of the floor below her "so therefore that rule didn't apply."

He stood up, getting very tired of this attitude of hers.

"Consider it applied."

She glared up at Vegeta, hating him.

"I don't."

His eyes blazed, and in a split second, she was facedown on the floor after a swift backhand to the face. His glared down at her for a few seconds before his lips curled into a smirk.

"My, that's some mouth you've got."

He stood and watched her for a moment longer and then laid down upon the cot to go to sleep. Parseri didn't move for the rest of the night, but laid there on the floor, cringing and fighting back silent tears.

The next morning, Vegeta awoke, to find her still in the same spot on the floor where he left her, only curled into a ball, shivering. He almost thought she was crying again and began thinking seriously about her mood swings before he heard her teeth chattering. Grimacing in annoyance, he picked her sleeping and shivering form up in his arms and deposited her onto his bed before dressing and leaving to train.

How long Parseri was there in that room, she didn't know. There seemed to be no sun, or light of day outside whenever she looked out the small window that the room bore. Her sleeping patterns were irregular, so they were no help either in deducing the length of her stay. A month? Two months maybe? During which time she never saw the outside of the four walls within she was confined to. She didn't see much of Vegeta, save for when he brought her food, or came into his quarters to sleep every now and then. She often wondered where he went to when he was gone, and wished she could predict the length of time he spent there as well. She hadn't really given up on escaping, but knew that it needed to be planned very carefully for it to work, for she would more than likely have only one shot at it. Where she was going after she escaped, she didn't know… that was another problem. She had no idea where she was. As she paced the room one day, contemplating all of these facts, she flopped down upon the bed, putting an arm over her forehead as she stared at the ceiling. Her brain was exhausted, and it seemed impossible that she'd be able to do any of the things that needed to be done for her escape. She jumped as she heard a distant beeping on the other side of the door, and sat up straight as the door opened, revealing Vegeta.

He closed the door behind him after he entered, carrying a tray of food which was no doubt for her. She looked at the tray with distaste written upon her face. Meat again. Was that all they ate around here? Vegeta set the tray down and turned towards the door. She was used to this, for that was his usual routine. She narrowed her eyes at him in wonder. What was keeping him so busy? Whatever it was, she doubted it was a good thing. She jumped as he turned his head and barked at her before opening the door,

"And eat it all this time. You're no use to me if you keep looking like you're wasting away."

He turned to the door and started pushing buttons, engaging the locking program. Her eyes snapped and caught the first three keys of the pattern before she couldn't follow the rest. After he left and the door slid shut, she scrambled from the bed and over to the keypad on the wall. It was a four-by-four block of sixteen buttons. It sounded like he had typed in eight keys from the beeping sounds. The first one was the second button in the third row. She remembered that, and pushed it. The second one was the fourth one in either the first row, or the second row. She thought on it for awhile until she became certain it was the first row. The third button in the sequence was second row, three… or was it third row, four? She wracked her brain, trying to remember, but she couldn't. She threw her hands up, growling, disgusted with it all. She walked over to the small circular window in the room and looked out of it into the vast darkness of what they called "space."

If she had not been distraught, she might have stopped to realize how beautiful it was out there. The stars winked pleasantly at her, but they only stood as symbols of freedom to her… something she did not possess. She began to tremble as the tears started to form in her eyes. She sank to the floor, weeping, and thoroughly disgusted with herself. Why was it that all she could do was cry? She cried there on the floor until her voice went hoarse, and she felt an intense pain in her stomach. Without really thinking, she crawled to the bed, and began to tear into the meat with her teeth, stopping every now and then to sob, but continued to eat. She consumed all the food on the tray, and shoved it aside, with a sliver of satisfaction that at least her stomach was comfortable now, but the tears wouldn't stop. The sliding open of the door made her jump as Vegeta entered the room again. How long had she been on the floor? She felt a pang of disappointment in herself, because once again, she had failed to pay attention to how long he was gone. His eyes looked from her to the empty tray on the floor, and then slid back up to her as he smirked,

"Nice to see you're doing what you're told for once."

She didn't answer, but looked down at her lap, her fists clenched tightly upon it. She closed her eyes and grit her teeth, making two fresh tears fall onto her hands. He noticed this and his smirk immediately darkened into a scowl. He crossed the room and stood over her, glaring down at her shaking form.

"Stop that. The blood that runs through your veins is partially the blood of a great and proud race… Have some pride, you pathetic brat."

She didn't look up at him, but spoke very slowly in a low, shaky tone, still hoarse,

"This blood… This blood that you speak so highly of, has taken everything away from me. This blood which you have such pride in is nothing but a curse in my eyes. It's my curse."

He groaned, annoyed and folded his arms across his chest.

"Don't give me that. You can hardly blame your Saiyan blood, or my comrades and I for what happened. If it wasn't us, it would have been someone else sent by Frieza to get the job done, and you would be dead with your foul race."

"Well maybe that's what I want!" She shouted at him, snapping her gaze up to his, fresh teardrops flying from her eyes from the sharp movement of her head, "You ruined everything! I may not have really belonged with the people as a whole, but I was happier _there_! I was happy with my family and friends! And you killed them! You killed them! You took everything away from me! You killed Moesakaru!" She finished shrilly. The room fell silent, and they gazed at each other for a moment before she lowered her head and began to weep again. "Why didn't you just leave me there?" she sobbed helplessly, "Why didn't you just kill me? That's what I wanted…"

"I kept you alive because you have an important role to fill." He growled, becoming rapidly annoyed with her weeping and trembling, "You are going to help me rebuild the Saiyan race. You wouldn't know anything about it, so let me enlighten you…

"You have already met the remainder of our dying race. Just us four, and the possibility of one more. You are the only female with Saiyan blood left, and it is your duty to help repopulate our noble race." He paused for a moment and then added darkly, "Our planet was destroyed… by Frieza. So you understand… With me you have a chance at revenge. We're the only ones left…" He repeated. The room fell silent once again as he gazed at her and she still looked down at her lap. The only word she uttered before she could catch herself that broke the silence was,

"Good."

Slowly, Vegeta's face contorted into a look of pure rage. His eyes gleamed and he had to stop himself from hurling a blast of energy to send her to oblivion. He reached down and forced her head up by grabbing her neck and twisting it upward. She flinched, looking up at his blazing eyes as he hissed,

"I've had just about enough of this attitude of yours. As I said before, I won't kill you, but I can and _will_ make you beg for me to if you don't watch your mouth… Well… they say actions speak louder than words."

And with a horrible smirk, he lifted her up an inch and hurled her down on the bed before blasting a chair across the room into cinders. When he slowly turned his head back to her, his expression was stony.

"That was the very least of my power… and is your last warning."

Parseri never saw his facial expression, but his words chilled her bones as her eyes remained locked onto the pile of dust where a chair once stood. She heard screams in her head as she imagined the same thing happening to her family. The memory of Moesakaru vanishing into nothing by this powerful light was swimming in front of her eyes. But then, something inside Parseri's mind began whirring. He said she would be able to have revenge. No doubt he meant against this "Frieza" character, but she had something else in mind. She now had a purpose. A purpose to live if only to see them dead... It wasn't much, or very likely, but it was all she had left.


	4. The Weight of the Warrior

**Chapter Four: The Weight of the Warrior**

Parseri paid more and more attention in the future. Everyday when Vegeta left the room, she would look at him punch in the code out of the corner of her eye, taking in new information, and then practiced what she had learned over and over after he left, so that it was engraved in her mind. Little by little, she learned the entirety of the code. The door opened for her once, and she closed it with a smile of satisfaction upon her face. She had gotten through the first obstacle, but that wasn't nearly enough to really escape. She sat down, pondering what to do next. She had to figure out how to get out of here, and she couldn't do that without the risk of being caught. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she murmured,

"Well, I guess it's a risk that I have to take. No going around it..."

She stood again and exited the room, looking left and right to see if the coast was clear. When seeing that the halls were completely vacant, she set off in a trot down the corridor, leaving Vegeta's room far behind.

The halls were like a never-ending maze. She took turns, left and right, and they seemed to lead her nowhere. Where would she go now, and what was she even trying to find? The whole thing seemed pointless. She sat down against the wall to think on it for awhile, when she heard noises coming from a room a couple doors down her left. The door was left open. She crept up to it and peered in.

Inside she saw none other than Vegeta, hard at work training. He seemed to be alone, save for strange green creatures that were appearing at intervals just as fast as he was blasting them away. He dodged, and moved with great agile, pummeling his enemies with every blow. His movements were mesmerizing... and she found that she couldn't tear her eyes away. Suddenly he let out a great wail, pushing a sort of force from his body, obliterating all the creatures near by. Her eyes widened as she thought to herself,

_"How... how can I beat that?"_

She jolted as she saw him turn, his eyes moving towards her. With a gasp, she quickly ducked out of the doorway, pressing herself against the wall, sweating and trembling in shock,

_"Stupid! Stupid! Why did I have to look for so long! I think he saw me…"_

Sure enough, she heard quiet footsteps slowly becoming louder as they grew nearer to the door. She scrambled up and set off in a dash down the hall, stopping only to pound a fist on a button to open a nearby door. When she did, she was engulfed in steam coming from inside. She peered momentarily inside before stepping tentatively forward. It was some sort of bathing room. She saw silhouettes of men showering, and knew that they probably couldn't see her, or hear her enter over the roar of the running water. With that comforting thought in mind, she closed the door behind her. She edged away against the wall to a vacant corner and slowly slid down to the floor. What now? She was safe for the moment, but how long could she stay here unnoticed? She didn't know how long Vegeta would be out there either.

After a few moments, she shakily got to her feet and tip-toed over to the door, intending to open it to see if the coast was clear. Her finger was inches away from the button to open door when it slid open, making her jump. Standing in the doorway, glaring at her through the steam, was none other than Vegeta himself, and he did not look happy. In a movement that she couldn't follow with her eyes, his hand shot forward and grasped the front of her dress, picking her up and yanking her forward as he shut the door. His eyes traveled down to her tail which was dangling by her ankles, and grasped it roughly in his hand. Before she could emit a screech of pain, he clamped his free hand over her mouth, crushing and suffocating her. As she struggled, he drug her back to the training room from whence he came and threw her inside before entering himself, closing the door behind him.

Parseri lay on the floor in silent agony. Her tail was throbbing where he had squeezed it. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see a pair of white boots before her, and her gaze traveled up to meet his eyes, glaring down at her. For awhile, he remained silent, and that silence scared Parseri, awaiting something terrible to happen. He spat the first word out with venom, causing her to flinch,

"What... did I tell you about your tail?"

She shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth.

_"Oh God... Oh God... He's going to kill me…"_

He barked at her, annoyed and impatient with her silence,

"Well?"

She stammered in a wavering voice, trembling from head to toe.

"To... to keep it hidden at all times..."

He picked her up by her hair, causing her to squeak in pain, cringing,

"And did you do what you were told?"

"N-no..."

She opened one eye to see an angry, but slightly amused smirk cross his face,

"Now, I'm interested to know how you managed to escape my living quarters. Do tell, Parseri."

He dropped her on all-fours and awaited an answer. Her face paled as her mind whirred, trying to think of one. What could she tell him? If she told him that she knew the code, he would surely change it and be more cautious about her wandering eyes when locking it again. Then what? What could she say?

"I'm waiting..."

"The... the door wasn't locked..." She said slowly, in a trembling voice, "I tried it and it opened."

There was a long silence, and she didn't dare look up. After a long while, he spoke again,

"That's a real possibility that I'll have to look into. However, this will not be a common occurrence." He kneeled next to her, smirking as he lifted her head with her hair once more, "And I did warn you about a punishment, did I not?"

Her blood went cold and she whimpered in fear and pain, squeezing her eyes shut again as to not look at him. He pulled her head higher, and she opened her mouth wide in a silent scream until he set her on her feet.

"Stand up."

She opened her eyes wide as she saw him back away and slide into a battle stance, smirking evilly.

"I think it's time you started your training, little girl. Try and hit me."

She shook her head and stepped backward, away from him. His smirk disappeared and he growled lunging at her, pulling his fast back to aim a punch,

"If you don't try and hit me, then you're dead."

He swung his fist at her and she ducked with a yelp. He swung again with the other and she barely dodged that one, rolling away on the floor. She looked back when she heard a loud cracking sound and saw that he had smashed his fist into the tile, cracking it a bit. Her face paled as he turned and slowly began to walk forward.

_"That could have been me…"_ She gulped and scrambled to her feet, backing away. He started walking faster, a smirk sliding across his face once more. She stumbled backward right into the wall and with a shriek, ducked out of the way of another punch, covering her head as she crouched on the floor, feeling small pieces of the wall falling onto her head.

She looked up in time to see it happening, but not in time to act to dodge it, and she was punted hard, tumbling across the floor until she was near the other side of the room. She grit her teeth and tried to push herself up. He was coming towards her again, only he was running this time. She screamed and clambered to her feet. She leapt and dodged out of the way of several of his attacks. She knew he wasn't using very much of his strength and speed at all... And that's what frightened her the most. With every few of her screams and yelps as she narrowly dodged him, he would shout at her,

"Hit me! Hit me and it'll be over!"

_"But how can I hit him if I can't find an opening!"_ She thought frantically. She hadn't dodged the last blow successfully, and he landed a punch to her face with ease. Her nose wasn't broken, but it was bruised and bleeding. She was backed up against the wall once again, and she was getting desperate. Without really thinking, she pushed herself from the wall, ramming her head into his gut, hoping to at least knock the wind out of him... Unfortunately for her, it hadn't. In fact, it barely phased him at all. He clamped his hands on her shoulders and kneed her in her stomach. Her eyes bulged as she saw specks of blood fly from her mouth and nose. As she gasped for air, he rammed her up against the wall, making her squeak in pain, as it was the only sound she could muster. He chuckled lowly at her, and sneered,

"You're weak, Parseri... You can't even manage a proper attack, can you?"

He dropped her to the ground and she crumpled into a ball, coughing and gasping hungrily for air. He glared down at her in disgust before picking her up by the back of her dress like a cat again, and hoisted her over his shoulder. He crossed the room and set her down at the door, grasping both her wrists in one hand and holding her up.

"Hide your tail, and don't make a sound."

She shakily did as she was told and he hoisted her over his shoulder again before opening the door and quickly set off towards his room. Luckily, they met no one on the way, and Vegeta chucked her into his room before entering himself and locking the door behind him. Bruised and battered, Parseri began to pull herself backwards across the floor to get as much space as she could between them. He only stared coldly at her, folding his arms across his chest. She was in trouble, and she knew it. She gulped and formed the bravest, nastiest scowl on her face that she could muster at the moment, and his eyes narrowed at this,

"For someone with a big attitude, you sure have little to show for it. You're a lot weaker than I thought, and that won't do at all."

She growled lowly at this but said nothing. He grinned, obviously amused at this. Though she was very disobedient and weak, the blood was there- her spirit and temper were proof of that. After looking her over once or twice he spoke again,

"Everyday from now on you will do four-hundred push-ups and sit-ups. We'll start you off at that" At the outraged noise and expression coming from her he added, "And you will not eat or sleep until you finish them all."

"You must be joking! That's impossible!" She shouted at him in anger, he smirked and replied,

"And every time you complain or whine, I'll add another hundred." He chuckled, "So I guess that brings you up to five-hundred each, now doesn't it? And after you get the hang of that, we'll do the same with weighted clothing before I teach you any combative skills."

"What! That's totally barbaric!" Parseri shrieked at his demented training schedule and he unfolded his arms, stepping forward with a leer,

"Unless of course you'd rather start on reviving our Saiyan race, we can do that instead."

An incredulous expression was slapped onto her face,

"You... you can't! I'm not doing anything you say and you can't make me. Starve me, I don't care. I won't do anything, and if you try to make me or do anything else to me, I'll scream so loud that someone will hear me and then my cover will be blown."

"No, I really think you'll do whatever I say. You say starving is no big deal now, but we'll see how you feel after a few days without eating or sleeping."

"Heh... You can't do that to me." She smirked arrogantly, standing up, "I'm far too valuable to lose, and besides... I need to eat and sleep to gain energy, so I have to do both those things if I'm to even consider doing anything you say."

He looked at her, smirking for a long while in silence. It unnerved her, how quiet the room had become. Without a word, he strode up to her and stopped, their noses almost touching. He let out a low chuckle and then spoke,

"Well then, let's try it this way. I have tired of your disobedience."

The movement was swift and strong. Parseri didn't even see it coming. One second she was face to face with him, the next she was hunched over, in a suffocating pain from his fist being embedded into her gut. It hurt, and it hurt a lot. He had used a lot more force than when she fought him in the training room. She couldn't breathe, no matter how desperately she gasped for air.

"You're too weak. None of my offspring will have any weakness. None of my race will have any weakness. You are valuable, yes, but I grow tired of things easily... Don't mistake your value, girl. If I choose to kill you, don't doubt for a moment that I will. So... here are your choices to choose from..." He removed his fist, causing her to topple onto him, propping herself up on his chest with her forearms and elbows. Her head hung low so he couldn't see the dark expression on her face as she tried to steady her breathing. He smirked down at her and continued,

"Either you train with me, or you die. And what will your precious dead people of your pathetic mud ball of a planet think of you then if you just roll over and die? Heh, actually come to think of it, they probably wouldn't mind too much seeing as that was exactly what they did." He laughed cruelly.

Something inside Parseri snapped once again, and an unstoppable rage was unleashed. Her heart pounded fast and she clenched her fists so hard that her fingers began to hurt. Looking down at the girl, leaning against him, he grinned malevolently. She was angry... no, she was pissed. He was amused at the fact that he could enrage her this much when there was nothing she could do about it. But just then, her head snapped up and she glared at him. He saw fury and pain in her eyes with angry, unshed tears dwelling, threatening to spill. Without warning, she swung a clawed hand at him and slapped him hard across the face, drawing blood. Everything seemed to move in slow motion after that.

_"Did... did she just attack me!" _He asked himself, stunned, _"Did she just spill... my BLOOD!"_ A surge of anger coursed through his veins, and as he saw her hand attempting to come back at him in a backhand fashion, he caught it and grasped it tightly and painfully. He hissed through his teeth at her, "Look here, you pathetic bitch. From now on, you WILL do as I say, and if you don't…" He smirked, "Well, I think I'll just give you to my men. They've been begging me to let them have some fun, and now maybe I'll finally give in. But I'm going to be merciful this one last time and give you a choice. Train... or become a plaything to my comrades. The choice is yours."

That did it. Her eyes seemed to have a vacant look to them before filling up with pure authentic fear. He could see that being deflowered by two Saiyan warriors was not something that she wanted to happen. He squeezed her wrist tighter to make her answer quicker, but it only made her scream,

"Stop it! STOP IT! It hurts!"

An evil smile spread across his face,

"It hurts, does it? Well if this hurts, then we've got a lot of work to do, don't we? Unless you'd rather that I hand you over to my men. I'm sure we could find a suitable and pleasing outfit for you to wear."

She squeezed her eyes shut, hating him more than anything in the world. She hated to lose. Hated it.

_"I can't... I can't do this…" _She whimpered in her mind, and with a choking voice, she spoke slowly, "No..." She slowly sank to the floor, her wrist still within his grasp. "No. I'll do... whatever you want... Don't let them..." As angry tears began to spill from her eyes, she had never loathed herself as much as she did at that moment. She had never begged in her life. Never... Never.

A victorious smile crossed his lips and he finally released her wrist, watching her cradle it with a whimper of pain.

"Well then, I suggest you get started. And you should be thanking me, girl. Many would kill to get training from one such as I, so feel privileged."

Without another word, she nodded and positioned herself in a starting push-up position. Her wrist was throbbing in pain, but she bit her lip and began her push-ups. She was doing alright until around her sixty-seventh, when her arms buckled and gave way. Vegeta, who had sat on his bed to watch her, nudged her with his foot and ordered her to get up. She tried to push herself up, but the pain in her wrist was too great. She rolled over and laid on her back, holding her wrist in agony. Again he nudged her with his foot and barked at her to get up. After a little more, we'll just say persuasion, she tried again, this time successfully rising. She grit her teeth, trying to ignore the pain and just stared down at her hands as they slowly, shakily drew nearer and further away, again and again. Staring at her hands as she continued, she noticed something... His blood was still underneath her nails.

* * *

And so her training began. Each day she would do five-hundred pushups and sit-ups if she wanted to eat or sleep, and strangely enough, it became a little easier as each day passed. Her arms didn't seem to be bulking up, but she would feel just a little stronger the next day, and was becoming less stiff and sore. It wouldn't be long before he would start her in combat... something she wasn't looking forward too at all. Each night she curled up, dreading the day she would have to fight with him again. Each night, she would drift off into a troubled slumber, filled with disturbing dreams.

The day for her first sparring lesson had finally come. She stood shakily in the training room, watching him slide into that familiar fighting stance. She gulped, full of fear. He smirked and ordered her to make the first move. She refused. His smirk disappeared and he ordered her again, warning her not to disobey him. She backed away, still refusing, and pleading that she have more time. She wasn't ready yet. She needed more time! He advanced on her and grasped her by her hair and began dragging her out of the training room.

"Have it your way then."

She screeched in pain, hearing her voice echo down the halls. Why couldn't anyone hear her? She was trying to pry his hand out of her hair, but every time she tried to pull his fingers apart, he grasped tighter. Her eyes were watering from the pain. Where was he taking her?

He stopped, opened a door in front of him and tossed her in, chuckling in an evil voice,

"Here you go, boys. Enjoy."

Her vision was bleary from tears, so it took her some time to adjust to her new surroundings. Wiping her eyes, she found herself in a dark room with the only light coming from the open door, and Vegeta's long shadow was looming over her. She heard laughing behind her. Evil laughter. It chilled her to the bone just to hear it. She slowly turned to find Nappa and Raditz slowly striding towards her out of the darkness. She whipped her head back to Vegeta, who had removed himself from the doorway and leaned against a wall, watching with his arms folded over his chest and an amused smirk on his face.

"Wait! Wait, no! Please! I'll do it! I'll fight! Please don't let them do this!"

But it was too late. Nappa and Raditz were on her, their hands grasping and groping, ripping and tearing her clothes, kissing, licking. She screamed in fear and agony, begging Vegeta to call them off... to stop them. But he just watched them assault her with a sick grin on his face as if this was a form of entertainment. She screamed in terror as loud as she could,

"NO! PLEASE STOP!"

Parseri bolted upright in Vegeta's bed, panting heavily. Her body was drenched in sweat, and she felt her body in the darkness to find that her clothes were still on and intact. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she noticed that Vegeta was nowhere to be found. She figured he had left again after she had eaten and fallen asleep. He did that often nowadays, and she wondered if he ever slept at all. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against her knees. She had had other dreams like this often, and each night that she had them, they were steadily getting worse. She shuddered as images from the dreams flashed in her mind, and quickly tried to think of something else. She slid out of bed and walked to the window, pressing her head against the cool glass.

"How long will I be forced to stay in this horrible place...?

* * *

After a few weeks of working out in weighted clothing, Vegeta deemed her ready to spar. With her tail hidden beneath her dress, he led her to a nearby training room. He glanced over his shoulder as they strode through the hall- she was trembling the entire way.

Inside the training room, Vegeta slid into his familiar stance, a smirk sliding onto his face. She shakily spread her feet apart into a more defensive stance, her eyes narrowing as bravely as she could manage as her forehead began to sweat.

"Ready?"

She shook her head sharply, an he frowned, standing upright.

"The point of this match is just for you to hit me. I won't hit you unless you refuse to hit me. Alright?"

She tensed up slightly, glaring suspiciously at him,

"You promise?"

He chuckled and folded his arms over his rumbling chest,

"Yes. Now get over here and hit me."

She approached him slowly, her hands up and her body crouched in an aggressive position. As she did so, he slid into his fighting stance once again and awaited her move. She stared him in the eye, slightly unsure of what to do, and after a long while, she sent a clawed hand towards him face, which he caught easily and twisted her arm behind her back and spoke next to her ear in a rather annoyed voice,

"Looks like we'll be learning how to punch first."

He released her and whirled her around to face him, shaping her hands into a proper fist. He instructed her how to align her arm and wrist when punching, and ordered her to hit him again. He put his hands up, palms facing outward as targets. Parseri threw a weak punch at his right hand, and he caught it, grasping it lightly.

"Good, you can aim. Now hit harder." He grunted harshly.

They practiced for a good couple of hours before he brought her back to the room. He had shown her a few different punches and demanded that she practice them at least once a day whenever he was away. Parseri found this routine a bit more innervating than the former work-out. She found she could concentrate and block out more painful memories and focus on what she was doing. Her mind seemed to wander to places that brought her comfort when she practiced. There were times when Vegeta sat on his bed, watching her practice, and she was able to ignore him as if he wasn't even there. She was improving. She was moving and breathing correctly, and her heart seemed to be more or less be into it.

* * *

It was a very slow process training her. Her improvements were great, but not great or fast enough. After she was acceptable at punching, he had moved her on to kicking, which proved to be more difficult for her, as it required a bit more balance, which she seemed to lack at the worst of times. It was nearly a month before she was ready for a real spar.

Nappa and Vegeta stood, leaning against the wall of the training room, watching as Parseri sparred with Raditz. He had been instructed to go very easy on her, as she lacked a strong ability to think and act quickly, being that she was still new to fighting. Fire-dancers weren't required to know how to fight, and Parseri seemed to have used her Saiyan blood to at least excel in speed, which proved useful in dodging Raditz' attacks.

As she fought, Vegeta barked orders of improvement in strategy and technique, in which she tried to comply. After awhile, he became the voice in her head, telling her to attack and how to attack. Her punches were becoming more accurate and she was able to land a few on Raditz. She still wasn't very good, but it was a vast improvement.

Each day for almost a month she spent at least an hour fighting against Raditz, observed by Nappa and Vegeta, until one week, they seemed to have little time to do much with her at all besides drop food off in the room for her. Her month-long trance of battle seemed to wear away and her mind once again drifted to escape, now that there was no one around her all the time, pushing her to train.


	5. Parseri's Slip Up

**Author's Note:** My computer had hard drive problems and I had to reformat her. I finally got my back-up files back from my ex-boyfriend, so here, at long last is chapter five. I'm sorry about the month-long wait! I hope you enjoy it! Kudos to Meca-Vegeta for backing up my chapter six! (And credit goes to my dear friend, Alison for the "looming joke." I had to put that in for her. Love you, girl!)

**Chapter Five: Parseri's Slip Up**

It had been a few weeks since she had seen Vegeta. Raditz had brought her food to her in his place. She hadn't seen much of Nappa, but he seemed to at least be on base. Vegeta was, for sure, away on some sort of mission, from what she heard from Raditz. She didn't know when he'd return, and feared that her chance for escape was slipping away as she sat in the room, waiting for some sure sign or fact of when he'd return.

One day, she couldn't take it anymore and decided to just take the chance. Tentatively stepping through the now unlocked door, she looked both ways before setting off down the hall. She had a slight sense of direction in the base now due to her many visits down the halls to the familiar training room to train with Raditz, closely observed by Nappa and Vegeta. As she jogged through the cold and unfeeling halls, she was still unsure of where she was headed or where she needed to be, but she wouldn't let herself stop. The halls twisted and turned this way and that, and she let her eyes wander for something that looked of useful knowledge, skidding to stop and check around corners before proceeding. Soon, she figured she had been gone long enough and made her way back to Vegeta's room, making sure to lock the door behind her. She continued this pattern twice a day for four more days, each trip out finding more and more.

She found an area where there were rows and rows of those round space ships that Vegeta had brought her here in. And her second trip out that day allowed her to learn when the soldiers guarding them went on their breaks, and how much of a time window she had between the switching of guards.

Another day she was able to get up close to one and began to try opening it… the day after she succeeded and began to work on understanding the controls on the inside. By the end of the fourth day she returned to Vegeta's room with little information on how to work it at all. It seemed too complex for her understanding, though she had a hunch on how to at least start it. The fifth day she woke up to the door opening earlier than usual for Raditz or Nappa to feed her and bolted upright in the bed. In the darkness she froze, waiting for whoever it was to switch on the lights. To her annoyance, they stayed off.

_"What the… What are they playing at?"_

She waited for a moment longer before growling,

"Raditz… Nappa… whoever you are- just leave the food and get out!"

A familiar cool chuckle met her ears and she gulped as the voice spoke,

"Well now… You seem to be getting some spunk."

With a snap of the switch, blinding light filled the room, and Parseri flinched until her eyes adjusted. She didn't have to open them to see who it was, for Vegeta's familiar chuckling continued,

"I trust you're well and left enough alone by my men?"

Rubbing her eyes, she grumbled at him,

"Yes. What of it?"

He folded his arms over his chest in his characteristic slouch against the door,

"I didn't expect them to obey my orders to leave you untouched while I was away for so long. I'm surprised they didn't break my little rule… after all, I wasn't that confident."

"What! You mean you left for nearly three weeks thinking those disgusting boars were going to assault me?

A sly smirk slid across his face,

"That was the idea of the assumption, yes."

She rocketed out of the bed and loomed over him angrily. What she screamed at him, he had drowned out by his own thoughts of annoyance. She was amusing enough when she was this mad, but her voice was almost intolerable at these decibels and he couldn't stand her height looming over him, as if she was trying to feel superior… and that wouldn't do in the least. He wouldn't have _any_ woman act superior to him. He growled at her irritably, cutting her off mid-sentence,

"Quiet down, you screeching idiot! What do you take me for? Since when is it my job to make sure my men leave you untouched and unharmed?"

She stood, staring in angry shock at him before continuing her tirade,

"You- We had a deal! If I train, you protect me from your perverted hooligans! You _said_ so! You can't go back on your word!"

He let out a howl of laughter that quieted her immediately.

"Don't mistake me girl. I never promised to protect you from anything. I merely keep my men off of you because I want you for myself."

Her eyes widened, angrily, and with a sudden burst of speed, she slapped him hard against his cheek,

"You're all filthy pigs! Each and every one of-"

But she didn't get a chance to finish, for Vegeta grasped her hand by the wrist and twisted it painfully. She screeched in pain and with her free hand, she jabbed her fingers into his eyes. Growling and eyes watering, he let her go and she scampered onto the bed, crouching and awaiting his next attack to dodge. With his eyes red and sore, he glared at her and stalked over to the bed after her. Intending to leap over him, Parseri sprang forward, only to be caught by the ankle by Vegeta and slammed to the ground, face first. This seemed to give some satisfaction, because when she glared up at him next, he was smirking victoriously. She hissed and climbed to her feet to get right into his face, standing a full head taller than him again to shout,

"I _hate _your guts!" She grabbed his shoulders in an attempt to shake him. When enraged, he grabbed her shoulders in turn and flung her around and shoved her to the bed, roaring,

"Sit _down_!"

"_Why_!" She snarled angrily at him.

"Because I want to loom!" He roared, seething angrily over her.

There was a long pause where her expression was blank as he glared down at her. The entire room fell silent after his surprising childish and lame remark until she burst into a fit of hysteria and a sound that he had never heard coming from her met his ears… To his surprise he found her laughing… laughing at him. His brief expression of confusion and shock was quickly replaced with a stern and annoyed one. She was laughing so hard that tears were spilling from her eyes. After a full two minutes, he grumbled,

"Are you quite done yet?"

His eyebrow twitched when she looked up at him to answer. Her eyes were brighter than usual, and it seemed as though her entire face had lit up. She had never looked this way before… at least not that he could remember. His face involuntarily flinched at an odd feeling in his stomach as a lighter side of her voice answered, giggling,

"I'm sorry… You just sounded so… so stupid!"

Her laughter continued and he folded his arms over his chest again, smirking now.

"Well then, I guess you won't get dinner tonight…" He sneered, "Which I think is for the best since you seem to be gaining a lot of weight lately."

From what he remembered, weight was always a touchy subject with women, no matter who they were, and it was just the medicine she needed to slap that smile off of her face and replace it with an enraged growl.

"What! That's not true!"

He chuckled as he turned and left the room, leaving her seething in silence.

* * *

She found it difficult to continue her wandering around the facility with Vegeta back. His timing was unpredictable for some time, but she noticed that he didn't come back to the room during the night often so she started to venture out in the late hours of the night. She had to be extra cautious, because for some reason, it seemed more common that people walk the corridors at that hour. She didn't understand why that was, but disregarded the reason altogether and focused on her goal. After a slow and tentative journey to the space pods, she managed to get inside of one once again to study the controls.

She only dared to spend about an hour inside the space pod that night, and after the hour was about up, she slowly crept out of the ship after the guard left, giving her about two minutes until the next one came to take his place. She neared the door to exit the garage when it opened. Holding back a yelp of surprise, she dived behind the nearest pod and scrambled into the shadows. Two guards walked in. One of them, a green, scaly looking man pointed at a space pod across the room and barked an order to the shorter guard, an orange and plump looking man.

"That's the one over there. That monkey prince, Vegeta, has a purging mission on the planet Yhark. Take that pod to the docking bay and prepare it for take off. He'll be leaving within three hours."

Parseri's heart skipped a beat. Vegeta was leaving again soon! She would be able to resume her normal schedule to plan her escape. But wait… perhaps this was just the opportunity she had been waiting for. They were going to prepare a space pod to launch shortly. If she could get to it before Vegeta did, she could steal it and escape this horrible place. All she would have to do was hide, wait for them to finish preparations and hope to God that there would be a chance that the ship would be left alone if only for a moment so she could hijack it. It sounded like a good enough plan. She smirked to herself and whispered,

"I'll try it… I've got nothing to lose…"

The first part was a bit tricky. One of the guards controlled the pod through a remote control, making it hover out of the garage through a large door that lead to the docking bay. She knew that there was no way she could cross the room to reach that door with the other guard there, even if she ducked behind each and every pod along the way. Her only shot would be to sneak out the open door into the hallway when he wasn't looking and find another way into the docking bay.

Slowly, and ever so carefully, she crawled along the floor in the shadows toward the door, waiting for the guard to turn away. To her dismay she found that he never looked away for very long. As she crawled closer, she felt something sharp poke her in the elbow. Wincing silently, she looked down to find a small screw lying on the cold floor. An idea dawned on her and she waited for the guard to look out towards the hallway before hurling the screw towards the opposite side of the room, making a loud clanking noise as it hit the floor in the center, shattering all silence. The guard's attention snapped in that direction and he moved forward to check it out. Once she was well in his blind spot, she scrambled to her feet and out the door before he had the chance to turn around again, and didn't stop running until she turned a corner. That was a bit too close for comfort. After catching her breath, she set off in the direction that she believed might take her near the docking bay.

After searching for about five more minutes, all the while avoiding detection, Parseri came to an end of the corridor with the choice to go left or right. She glanced to the left and noticed that this lead down another way and around a corner, while, to her delight, she saw a large window showing her what must have been the docking bay. It was outside it seemed, for what she saw beyond the ship being prepared for Vegeta was the black nothingness of space. She noticed that this window was still only a dead end though, and that she would have to find another way, yet again. She seemed to be standing at a sort of observation window to overlook launches. Before her thoughts traveled any further, she heard footsteps and sickeningly familiar voices coming from around the corner on the left end of the hall. They were close… too close for her to make it back to the corridor she had come here from. She searched frantically around the empty dead end to find something- anything to hide herself when she saw a grating that was unscrewed and set aside a hole in the wall, no doubt left there in the middle of some sort of maintenance. The hole looked large enough for her to crawl into so she scrambled in, pulling the grating shut behind her, and not a moment too soon.

Nappa and Raditz rounded the corner, no doubt doing their patrol of the corridors. As they drew nearer, she was able to catch much their conversation.

"Vegeta's leaving for Yhark in a few hours." Nappa grumbled disgusted, "It's getting annoying, ain't it, being sent on easy missions lately, I mean."

Raditz merely grunted in agreement before Nappa continued,

"Vegeta's managed to keep that girl a secret for months now… I wonder what he's hoping to achieve. There's no way that brat is ready to bare a child, and even if she did survive childbirth, she'd be discovered for sure, along with the offspring. There's no way he can keep her alive for very much longer on this ship, much less a child. People are already suspicious what with the noise coming from his room during her tantrums."

"I don't know what he's trying to do…" Raditz grumbled, "But he must have some sort of plan in mind. We both know he isn't the kind to put so much energy in something that's a guaranteed lost cause."

Nappa chuckled and nudged Raditz with his elbow grinning,

"Hey who knows! Maybe after Vegeta gets his heir, we can have our turn with her. She is the last Saiyan woman after all, so she'll have to bare our offspring too." He smirked, licking his lips, "It's been a long time since I've had a real Saiyan woman. I can't wait."

Raditz laughed and answered,

"Settle down, Nappa. We don't want to get too excited just yet. She's still the Prince's property, after all."

"Yeah, you're right." Nappa replied, his voice fading along with their footsteps as they turned into the next corridor and continued their patrol. Parseri waited, gagging in fear and disgust, for their voices to completely die out before she dared to moved again.

_"Property!" _She hissed inside her head, _"The nerve! My God, they were talking about me like I'm some sort of breeding cow! I've got to get out of here, and soon!"_

She turned and noticed that there was another grating that allowed her to peer out into the docking bay area, so she stayed hidden in what seemed to be a ventilation system, or something. Though there were several wires tangled everywhere. She tried to push against the grating, but found that it was screwed tightly shut. With a heavy sigh, she decided to just sit and wait, watching the people prepare the ship and docking bay area for Vegeta's departure. At least she'd be able to know exactly when they were done.

She watched them for what seemed like forever, with no idea how much time was left until Vegeta would arrive, as she had no way of keeping track of the time. When at long last they seemed to be done, she sighed a breath of relief as they drifted off, back into the base. She turned and slowly opened the grating that lead back into the hallway, making sure the coast was clear before she crawled back out. She stood at the window for a long while, trying to see if she could tell of another way to get out there, but the only way she saw in was the large door from the garage. She pursed her lips and sighed irritably. She would have to go all the way back over there and find a way through, and there probably wasn't much time left. She took one step backward and turned to start jogging back towards the garage when she ran smack into some big and hard. She staggered backward, regaining her balance before she fell and opened her eyes to see a pink, horrendous, fat… thing grinning down at her. She took a few steps backward, stammering vowels at what was the most frightening thing she had ever laid eyes on in her life. He was a huge and obese thing, who held a very unpleasant smell. Just looking at him made Parseri quiver.

"Well, what have we here?" He spoke and took a step forward.

Her breathing quickened, becoming ragged and uneven before she lost her head and screamed, a shrill, high-pitched cry that echoed through the halls.

* * *

Vegeta grumbled at the prospect of having to set out on another painfully simple purging mission and spend another month away from his pet. He smirked to himself just thinking about her. He had definitely taken more of a liking to her since she stopped whimpering all the time, though something seemed quite suspicious about how calm she was all the time now. She always seemed to have something on her mind. His eyebrows furrowed as he reached the door to his room and punched in the code to unlock the door.

When he stepped in, expecting to see her up pacing the room as she usually did nowadays, he found nothing but a feeling of enraged shock. She was nowhere to be found. Before he had time to think on it, he heard a faint scream coming from out in the halls. He knew that scream anywhere and from the sound of it, she was near where Raditz and Nappa usually patrolled. He pushed the button on his scouter quickly to find her power level with another. He narrowed his eyes and cringed angrily. That was the power level of Dodoria, one of Frieza's henchman. He wasted no more time standing around and sprinted out of the room and off in their direction.

* * *

Dodoria had a sticky-looking grin on his on his fat, purple lips as he advanced toward Parseri, who had stumbled backward in her efforts to get away and was now on the floor, her back pressed against the wall below the observation window. As he did a quick scan of her body, he froze when he saw a thin, furry appendage poking out from beneath her primitive little dress. Parseri's eyes followed his when she saw them widen and she saw, to her horror, that her tail had slipped out from beneath her dress when she fell.

"S-Saiyan…" He murmured blankly. Her face paled as his grin grew even wider before he spoke again, "Frieza will reward me greatly for exterminating this disgusting rat." He slowly raised his palm up towards her, chuckling.

With a squeak, she squeezed her eyes shut and tensed up. She knew what was coming now and there was no way to stop it. She trembled, awaiting her death. She was going to die the same way Moesakaru had died… and there was no one left to save her.

_"I DON'T WANNA DIE!" _She screamed in her head.

But before anything happened, she heard a groan, followed by a loud thud as she felt the floor tremble a bit. She opened her eyes slowly to see a fat, pink body lying unconscious in front of her… with a very angry Vegeta standing over him. He looked at her and she looked at him, during which time seemed to slow down due to her shock.

He glared down at her coldly, almost quaking with suppressed rage. Suddenly everything made sense. She had somehow gotten out of the room to try and escape. He now understood her suspicious behavior. Growling angrily his hand dove for her and grasped a handful of the front of her dress, yanking her up to face him. She still held that stunned face, and said nothing. He heard footsteps nearing and dashed in the opposite direction, carrying her under his arm. As he ran, he tapped his scouter and roared through the communicator,

"Raditz! Nappa! Meet me in training room seventy-eight! This is urgent!"

He slid into the nearby training room and shut the door behind him, tossing the girl onto the floor. He glared down at her coldly as he awaited his comrades' arrival. She only stared up at him, seemingly unable to speak, or even move. Finally, he saw the familiar sparkle of tears form in her eyes and was about to start yelling at her, when something unexpected happened. She sat up on her knees and dove forward into him, clutching the fabric of his suit in a half hug around his waist. His eyes widened incredulously as her forehead pressed against his stomach,

"I'm sorry…! I'm sorry…!" She sobbed uncontrollably, repeating those words over and over again. Was this some form of gratitude then? His expression softened into pure confusion. She had never come into physical contact with him before over than to make an attempted attack on him. He stood with his arms slightly raised as to not touch her, not quite sure of what to do until Raditz and Nappa arrived, both of them shocked to find Parseri clinging to Vegeta, crying her heart out. Vegeta pried her away from him and informed the two of them what had happened and gave them both specific orders.

"Raditz. You go ahead to the docking bay and make _certain_ that no one is there. I want the area vacated by time I arrive there with her, got it?"

Raditz nodded before leaving hastily. Vegeta barked his order to Nappa next.

"Nappa. By now the guards have found Dodoria. I want you to head them off down the hall and see if you can't buy me some time before they get to Frieza. Make up something! Anything! Now go!"

Nappa saluted and rushed out of the training room as well, leaving him alone with Parseri once again. He turned to look at her slowly, glaring down at her once again,

"I seem to remember telling you never to try to escape."

His voice was calm, with a twinge of coldness, but looking up into his eyes, Parseri found only rage. She trembled, petrified to the spot.

"I… I'm sorry! Please, I won't do it again!"

"You little fool!" He snapped, causing her to flinch, "Don't you get it? Frieza's henchman knows you're here. I can't keep you here anymore."

She hiccupped and stammered fearfully up at him,

"Are… are you going to kill me?"

He growled and grabbed her by the front of her dress again to stand her up before snatching her wrist in his hand, yanking her towards the door,

"Come on, we don't have a lot of time."

* * *

He dashed through the corridors with great speed with Parseri in tow, stumbling to keep up. The entered the garage to find it empty and they sprinted through the great doors that lead out to the docking bay. Raditz had done his part well, and he waited for them at the control panel. He drug her to the space pod that had been prepared for him and shouted over his shoulder to Raditz,

"I can take care of that. Go prepare another ship for my assignment. I still leave in less than an hour." Raditz obeyed and left.

Vegeta opened the space pod and ushered her inside, pushing her into the seat as he went to work on reprogramming the navigation system. There were so many systems out there, and he had to pick one that was far enough away that it would be out of Frieza's reach for the time being at least. Running out of time he just picked one far, far away titled the solar system and selected a random inhabitable planet. Parseri jumped, shrieking in surprise when he suddenly threw his fist into the navigational system afterwards, smashing the homing signal inside so no one would be able to track her. He then turned and looked at her for a moment before speaking very quickly.

"Pay attention. I'm sending you off in this ship. You're programmed to travel to a planet far away, still untouched by Frieza. It'll take about a year to get there, so once you're out of here push this red button here, do you understand?"

She glanced at it, nodding, and he continued.

"That will engage the hibernation program which will put you into a deep sleep. If you don't go into hibernation, you'll more than likely starve to death in space. It's programmed to wake you fifteen minutes before landing at your destination."

She nodded again and he added sternly,

"I smashed the homing signal so they won't be able to track you. Only you and I will know the general area where you went… I also destroyed the rest of the navigation system, so if you're hoping to figure out how to reprogram it to go somewhere else you're out of luck." He smirked, leaning closer to her, "You see Parseri, I will find you again, and quite easily. Don't think you've managed to escape me, because wherever you are on whatever pitiful planet you land on, I will be able to find you. Do you understand?"

Their noses were barely touching. She nodded shakily before he inhaled her scent and stepped back to seal her in.

He looked into her eyes which were shining with fear. This seemed to be happening a bit to fast for her, he guessed. Well, it served her right. She was giving him an almost pleading look that he didn't understand. His expression softened lightly and he added, reassuringly, "Don't worry, you'll be fine." before slowly closing the door. He peered at her through the small round window, watching her wide, frightened eyes. She put a hand against the glass as if to reach out to him. He'd never seen her look so pathetic… though it alarmed him that she was acting in this manner toward him. Humoring her, he stepped up closer to the window and put his hand against hers through the glass. Peering back at him through the red tinted glass was a girl who's eyes were wide with panic. She would be alone for a year, and he imagined that that thought alone was about enough to drive her pathetically fragile mind mad. But to his surprise, he saw her mouth the words "thank you" to him, and he answered with a smirk before turning away to walk over to the control panel. He would initiate countdown from there, since he had destroyed the function along with the navigation inside the ship.

With the push of a button, the engine roared to life as the countdown began.

"Countdown initiated." A feminine robotic voice chimed both inside the ship and in the control panel speaker. "Ten, nine, eight…"

As the countdown continued, Vegeta glanced up at the pod momentarily locking eyes with hers. Parseri stared back at him with a blank expression on her face. He had saved her life. Why he had done it, she didn't quite understand… and though she wasn't altogether happy that _he_ was choosing her destination, she was very grateful for her life being spared.

A sudden smirk spread across his face. A smirk that would have chilled her to the bone at one time, but now, he seemed perhaps a little less frightening to her. This look he gave her was one silent reminder that he would find her again, whether she liked it or not. As the last two numbers of the countdown were chanted, she wondered how long it would take for him to find her again.

Her eyes widened with a yelp of surprise as she suddenly felt pulled down by the force of inertia from the ship's departure. She had one more fleeting glimpse of him before the base was so far away that it was barely a spec in the stars. She was completely and utterly alone now. She was afraid, but somehow she felt calm at the same time. Though it wasn't by her will alone, she had managed to escape for the time being, and she saw that that as a small shred of fortune.

"I'm going to be alright." She told herself, and after giving one last look out the window where Frieza's base once floated before her, she pushed the red button to initiate the hibernation program and soon found herself drifting off to a peaceful slumber.


	6. Third Rock from the Sun

**Author's Note:** Hooray! Chapter six! Finally, finally school, finals, job hunting, moving back home for the summer, personal problems and everything has slowed down enough for me to finish this chapter and begin on the seventh. (Which totally killed my be two chapters ahead of the posted game, but oh well. I don't wanna rush it, but I'm not gonna slack off. ) I hope you enjoy this chapter and the next. The next chapter is going to be VERY fun to write! A special thanks yet again to Meca-Vegeta!

**Chapter Six: Third Rock from the Sun**

Hot… It was so hot. Why was it hot? She lazily opened her eyes halfway before snapping them wide open to find herself bound and gagged… and sitting in a large, boiling cauldron. She screamed through the cloth tied over her mouth and began to struggle against the ropes around her wrists, bound tightly behind her back. A low, disgusting chuckle snapped her head to her right to find Dodoria, Frieza's henchman. To her horror, she saw him sucking the meat off of what looked like someone's finger. She felt like she was going to be sick. He stepped forward and began throwing foul smelling vegetables and spices in the cauldron with her and she struggled even more. This horrendous looking pink blob was going to _eat_ her! Gazing down at her while he licked his lips, he reached forward to pinch her and grinned,

"Tender… so tender… What a fine meal you'll make."

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light and she heard him scream out in terror and pain. When she opened her eyes, she saw Vegeta standing over her. He looked taller than usual and he was clothed in the ancient garbs of the Phoenix God, the God of her people. He also had large, feathered wings made of fire. His chest was bare, and wrapped around his waist was a long, flowing sheet. His appearance was breath-taking, and she found herself blushing. He moved slowly towards her and extended a hand towards her. She found her wrists were no longer bound, and her gag seemed to dissolve away from her mouth. Tentatively, she reached out and took his hand.

The moment she touched him, everything around them seemed to disappear, leaving them afloat in a sea of twilight. She blinked, noticing that he was now back in his usual Saiyan armor, and looking down after seeing a lewd smirk upon his face, she also noticed that she was now naked. With a gasp, she took her hand away as if she were burnt, and tried to cover herself up. Her face turned a scarlet hue as she looked up at the sound of him chuckling,

"What's wrong, little one?" He smirked lightly, closing the distance between them. She stared up at him with her arms crossed over her breasts. She felt like she was frozen to the spot and couldn't move away. Her breathing staggered as his arms encircled her, pulling her against him, ever so slowly. His armor felt cold, but firm against her bare skin. She looked up at him, still blushing. Up? Had he grown taller, or was she just smaller? She noticed him starting to lean in towards her, closing his eyes lazily. His face was so close. When their noses touched, she could swear he heart stopped, and when he captured her lips with his own, she felt like a cold hand was squeezing it.

What in the world was going on…? Did she want this? Her eyes were wide open and her heart was hammering in her chest… It felt kind of… nice. She slowly closed her eyes and gave herself up to the feeling... Though something didn't feel quite right. He was being so soft and gentle… but it felt so comfortable to be with him this way, and she smiled against his lips, despite herself.

Suddenly, the kiss turned from an endearing one to a devouring one, becoming rough and painful. Screaming, she pulled her face away from his and looked up with a shock to see Raditz in the place of Vegeta. She also noticed that she now sat upon a cold stone floor in chains, and that she was still very naked, and so was he. Hearing a chuckle from behind she whipped her head around to see Nappa, also naked. They immediately began groping every inch of her that they could reach. Her screams were cut short by Nappa crushing his mouth into hers. Tears were streaming from her eyes and Raditz licked them away, earning a mortified shudder from her.

She screamed against Nappa's lips as hard as she could, and everything around her shattered into a new environment. With a pang in her heart, she realized that she was back in her old village… and that it was burning. Everywhere she looked there was fire. It was all out of control. She heard insane, maniacal laughter behind her and turned to see Vegeta, wringing his hand in pure and vicious mirth. She ran up to him, shouting,

"Vegeta no! Why are you doing this?"

He didn't answer, but only continued his vile cackling, slowly raising a hand up to her. He had an evil glint in his eye and a crooked smile. She froze, wide-eyed as a bright blue light began to form in the palm of his hand. She felt tears starting to trickle down her face and she choked out,

"No… Why!"

His laughter grew louder and derisive as he hurled the ball of light at her, blasting her through the stomach. Gagging, she began to fall backwards, only to be caught, and held up by Vegeta. He kept a hand, supporting her back so she lay limply in his arms, and with a twisted smile, he studied her naked and now mangled body.

"Such a tragic waste…" He leered, bending to lick away the blood trickling from her lips. He chuckled grimly and dropped her, letting her body crash to the ground beneath his feet, and walked away. Now she laid there all alone… dying. As her vision began to get hazy, she saw a familiar figure approach her with a gentle grace and bend to her, holding out a hand.

Moesakaru shined as brightly as any angel, smiling down at her. She smiled back weakly, and with all her might, she tried to lift her arm to take his hand, though the more she drew her hand closer to his, the farther away he seemed to get. Everything was going dark all around her, and she could hear a ringing in her ears. No, not a ringing… it sounded more like a beep, and she could hear a hissing noise as well…

* * *

Parseri awoke and opened her eyes to the sound of the computer's voice.

"We are now making our descent into the planet Earth's atmosphere."

"Planet Earth…?" She repeated, murmuring to herself.

As they entered the atmosphere, the pod shook, and she tensed up to prepare for the impact soon to come. She looked out the small window, not allowing herself to close her eyes just yet. To her awe, she found that the planet was beautiful, for she saw glimpses of beautiful green and blue nature before her pod struck the ground. She braced herself, clinging to the seat below her to keep her from behind whipped forward into the window and door as she had before not so many months ago. After the crash, she relaxed into the silence that enveloped her, only broken by the computer terminal informing her that they had arrived. Slowly and shakily, she pushed the button to open the door and watched as the pod was filled with light. She climbed outside and started to climb up the edges of the steep crater that her ship had created.

When she made it to the top, she gazed around breathlessly, taking in all of the beauty around her. Looking around she saw trees filled with green foliage, wild flowers sprouting out of fresh and soft grass, and turning around, she gasped as she noticed that she had landed right in front of a beautiful river of clear, sparkling water. She had never seen so much water running so freely in her life. Suddenly, the water began to slowly slide into the crater, at first making a waterfall and Parseri watched the pod disappear under the water that filled the crater into a small lake or pond. It seemed as though all her terror and past had sunk beneath the crystal blue waters. Giving one last look at the distorted image of the space pod through the water before turning away from it with a smile. She didn't know how long she would be able to be free of Vegeta, or if he would ever come to find her at all, but she finally felt that things were looking up. She could tell by the very feel and soul of this planet that it was good.

* * *

As she journeyed through a forest, stopping every now and then to admire the wildlife, she picked up the scent of a cooking fire and roasting meat. Her mouth watered and her stomach growled. She certainly hadn't eaten for a long while. Slowly, she crept through the trees and into a clearing where she found a young lady with dark blue hair bending over a small cauldron. She was humming gaily as the contents inside the cauldron bubbled away happily. Parseri stood upright and stepped out into the light of the sun and cleared her throat, making her presence known.

The lady jumped startled, nearly knocking the cauldron over and whirled around to face her. Her big blue eyes blinked at her for a moment before she spoke in a sweet a sugary voice,

"Oh! You startled me!"

Parseri stepped forward again and hung her head in an apologetic manner,

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…Uhm… Can I ask you where I am?"

"Oh I'd say we're pretty close to West City."

"West… City?" Parseri repeated, clearly puzzled.

"Haven't you ever been there before? It's a very exciting and busy place! Would you like to go with me? I'm heading there tomorrow." She smiled at her, not noticing the cauldron boiling over. Parseri nodded slowly before the lady took notice and put two big mitts on her hands to take the cauldron off the fire. Beckoning her over, she spoke again,

"Come on, I bet you're hungry! I've made some stew!"

Tentatively, Parseri sat next to her and watched as a bowl was filled with hot stew and handed to her. She sipped it quietly until she was spoken to again by the blue-haired lady.

"Oh my, where are my manners? My name is Lunch." She bowed low at the waist as she sat upon her knees, which looked rather strange to Parseri, but she smiled and awkwardly did the same, setting her bowl down.

"My name is Parseri."

Lunch smiled at her until she noticed that Parseri was covered from head to toe in dirt that seemed to have been there for ages. She also noticed that she didn't smell as fresh as she would have liked.

"Oh dear, when is the last time you bathed, Parseri? You're a mess!"

Parseri opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it, thinking… She didn't remember bathing since… Since the night before her planet was invaded. She paled, suddenly feeling very disgusted. That had been about a year and a half, counting her hibernation in the ship. Lunch shook her head dutifully and took her by the arm, leading her out of the clearing, bucket in hand. After tromping through the trees for a short while, they found themselves at a calm part of the river. Quick as a flash, Lunch whipped Parseri's dress over her head, leaving her only in her primitive underwear. Yelping and covering her breasts, she leaped away from her, blushing enraged,

"Wh-what are you doing!"

Lunch calmly answered, pointing to the river,

"You can't expect to get really clean with your clothes on, can you? Now get in the water and I'll help wash you."

"Hey… I don't need any help… I barely know you!"

But Lunch wouldn't take no for an answer, and urged Parseri into the river. It wasn't long after that before a shrill cry could be heard, echoing throughout the land.

"EEYYAAAAUGH! It's cold! Ow! You're pulling my hair!"

Lunch hummed happily as she scrubbed suds into Parseri's hair and onto her back while Parseri shivered grumpily in the water, her tail clinging to her around her waist. Lunch looked down and noticed it for the first time now and commented on it,

"Wow… You've got a tail! That sure is strange."

Parseri's eyes widened and she whirled around, afraid that she might know about people with tails, only to see Lunch smiling motherly at her.

"Ready for me to wash your front?"

Blinking, she yelped and leaped backward and shouted,

"No! I am not!"

They went to sleep under the stars that night. Lunch had hospitably given up her sleeping bag to Parseri who currently donned some of Lunch's clothes while her dress and underwear dried, now clean. Parseri looked up at the stars and for the first time, she noticed how beautiful they were. Smiling, she rolled over and fell fast asleep. During the night, the full moon rose over the trees and shone into the clearing of their camp, but no one awoke to witness its splendor.

* * *

Parseri awoke the next morning to an itchy, twittering feeling on her nose. As she opened her eyes and brought a hand up to rub it, she found a strange and colorful insect perched upon it. Blinking, she stared at it for a moment before shrieking, startled by it's grotesque bug eyes. Lunch awoke with a start and cried,

"What! What is it!"

The winged insect was now fluttering around Parseri's trembling head, and she pointed up at it, asking meekly,

"Wh-what is that thing?"

Lunch blinked for a moment before answering with a smile,

"Why, Parseri... Haven't you ever seen a butterfly before?"

"A butter... fly?" She murmured. Looking up at it.

"It's perfectly harmless. Look at it's wings, isn't it beautiful?" Lunch cooed as Parseri gazed more closely at it's blue and green wings. Slowly, a smile spread across her face as it fluttered higher into the sky until it disappeared over the trees.

"You're right. It's very beautiful..." They gazed upward at the sky for a few moments in silence before Lunch spoke again.

"Shall we have breakfast?"

"Okay." Parseri replied with a smile, "I'll get dressed."

After taking off the clothes that Lunch had lent her, Parseri unwrapped her tail from her waist as she pulled on her panties. She felt something brush against the tip of her tail and she whirled around to find that she had accidently hit Lunch with it lightly under her nose. As she grabbed her dress from the clothesline, she apologized,

"I'm sorry, Lunch. My tail often gets in the way..."

Lunch replied, giggling,

"Oh no, it's ah... ah..."

Parseri turned, puzzled at her response after pulling her dress over her head in time to witness as truly odd event...

Apparently her tail had tickled Lunch under her nose, causing her to sneeze, which wasn't so surprising... but what happened as she sneezed was something unlike Parseri had ever seen before. Suddenly, she found that Lunch's fine and soft blue hair had turned wild and blond! And when Lunch next opened her eyes, Parseri found green pupils scowling back into hers. Blinking, she asked tentatively,

"Uh... Lunch? What just happened?"

Lunch growled, baring her teeth and Parseri stepped backward, chuckling nervously.

"L-Lunch? What..."

"The name..." she hissed, whipping out a large, metallic looking device out of nowhere, "is _Launch!_"

Without warning, Launch began firing from her big, black machine gun. Parseri yelped and ducked for cover into a nearby bush. What in the world was going on! Did all earthlings freak out like this? She heard her the click of the gun and dove further away behind the bush before Launch fired again. She quickly scrambled to her feet and took off running at a break-neck speed, dodging tree trunks and roots that stuck out of the ground with Launch hot in pursuit. Soon she heard Launch's enraged screaming and gunfire grow quieter off in the distance, but she didn't stop running until she broke through the last few trees of the forest and found herself on some sort of smooth surface that was long and relatively thin. It resembled a black river, though there were white lines drawn down the middle. She didn't get much of a chance to think on it, for as she turned her head to look behind her, something big and fast came speeding towards her. Her eyes widened and she froze for a split second before she screamed, clutching the sides of her head to drown out the awful noise of the machine that was coming closer and closer. She squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting impact until she heard a screeching noise.

Still flinching, she slowly opened her eyes after a few moments of silence, only broken by the heavy breathing she heard in front of her and from her own mouth. Her eyes snapped open wide when she saw that contraption that almost hit her merely a few inches away. She shook slightly, imagining the horrendous demise that she almost experienced until a bossy voice broke her train of thought,

"What on earth were you thinking! You could have been killed, you idiot! Why didn't you get out of the way!"

She slowly backed away, still trembling as she looked up at the source of the voice that was riding upon the idling machine. She saw a young woman donning clothes not unlike what Lunch had lent her, only these seemed to be a little more sporty in style. Hair as blue as the sky fell to her shoulders, and beneath her bangs were stern blue eyes, glaring back into hers.

"Well!" She snapped again, "What were you thinking!"

Continuing to back away, Parseri stammered weakly,

"I... uh... I'm..."

Slowly, the fiery young woman's features softened as she witnessed the pitiful state that Parseri was in. She took in her ragged appearance and climbed off of her vehicle to stand before her.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Her heart pounded in her chest as she froze in confusion at this change of attitude. The people she had come across on this planet so far seemed to have problems with mood swings. The girl folded her arms over her chest and spoke again,

"Boy, you really need a lesson on fashion, who_ever _you are... Don't you have enough money to buy some decent clothes? You look like a beggar!"

"Money...?" Parseri pondered aloud.

"Yeah. Don't tell me you're broke! Next you'll be telling me that you're homeless!"

Parseri didn't know how to answer to this comment. Her tail tightened around her waist beneath her clothes as her mind raced nervously. She certainly didn't want to tell anyone her origin. No, that would only cause trouble... but this bossy woman had brought something important to her attention. Where was she planning on staying? She knew nothing about this world or the people in it. Her eyebrows furrowed as her thoughts ran away with her again, only to be snapped back into reality when she felt a hand close around her wrist as she was tugged forward.

"Come on." The blue haired woman spoke to her as she dragged her towards her vehicle that Parseri would later find out was called a motorcycle.

"Wh-what?"

"My name is Bulma, and you're coming with me."

She instructed Parseri how to mount the motorcycle and wouldn't take no for an answer, no matter how much she protested.

"Just relax. There's plenty of room at my dad's place while you find your feet."

And with that, they took off on the motorcycle towards West City. With Parseri screaming as she clinged to the back of Bulma's shirt.

* * *

She found herself at another building that looked devoid of feeling aside from the beautiful landscaping on the property, but was clearly mistaken when Bulma led her through the front door. Her bare feet felt the soft plush of the carpet beneath her as her eyes explored the tactful layout of colors on the walls and furniture all around her. Bulma drug her up some stairs and down a long, cozy looking corridor and pushed her into a room with cool tile upon the floor and halfway up the walls. She watched as Bulma turned on a faucet that poured water into a large, beautiful bathtub, and poured the pink, slimy contents of a nearby bottle into the tub with it. As the water slowly began to rise, suds began to form, making a few bubbles drift into the air every once and awhile. Bulma left her there to bathe, saying she smelled of river water and closed the door behind her with a pair of pajamas laid out on the counter.

As Parseri laid against the smooth back of the tub, she sighed, looking up at another unfamiliar ceiling, trying to relax in the hot water. This had been the first day of her new life. As days went by, Bulma figured she had a bad case of amnesia when Parseri hadn't been able to tell her more than her name, and allowed her to stay with her. Her family was quite wealthy, and her mother had taken a liking to Parseri right away. And there she stayed, living much like a family all the while hiding her identity and more importantly, her tail from view.

After awhile, Parseri began to forget about her old life and all of the terrors she had faced. She managed to adapt to her new life quite well, and only visited her broken village in her dreams and in those spare moments when she found herself alone. She lived very happily with the Briefs for about a year. How could she have known that her life would drastically change again...?


	7. Doomed to Repeat

**Author's Note:** Phew! Talk about bad timing! Work picked up, and then it fell flat to minimum hours… but even with all that spare time, I still wasn't able to finish this chapter. I had a bad case of writer's block up until yesterday. Strange… it took a call from Meca-Vegeta and a new review asking me to continue to break dam and let my thought run free again! So thanks, guys! There's also been some chaos around here since my brother's getting married on the 12th, and I guess I've been spending too much time on World of Warcraft… (whoops!) But anywho… this chapter might be a tad rusty, but I hope you enjoy it, none-the-less. Thanks for reading!

**Chapter Seven: Doomed to Repeat**

"Parseri!"

Her eyes shot wide open as she sat up in her bed. She blinked twice before rubbing her eyes, groaning to the voice,

"Whaaaat...!"

"Get up, we're supposed to be there soon!" Bulma shouted down the hall again, towel drying her hair. Parseri groaned again and rolled out of bed, staggering to her bedroom door. She passed Bulma in the hall on her way to the bathroom to shower, rubbing her eyes again. Bulma, donned in a fluffy white robe, urged her to move faster,

"Be quick in there, we've got to hurry."

"Alright..." Parseri yawned, shuffling into the bathroom clad in baggy pink hand-me-down pajamas of Bulma's and bunny slippers, the only footwear she ever wore if any. She had been feeling apprehensive about this day. Today was the day that she would meet the friends that Bulma had been telling her about over the course of the year. All the adventures, all the hardships, all the pain they had went through seemed to incredible... all for seven magical spheres called the Dragon Balls. It seemed like a fairy tale.

She had managed to keep her tail hidden the entire time she had spent with Bulma as well. She didn't know how long it would be before the truth slipped out... and she was afraid for that too. As she wiped the steam away from the mirror, she gazed at her reflection staring back at her.

She had spent a year just living... but what was left for her? What was she to do with her time now? Truthfully, though she was happy with Bulma and her family, she felt alone and without direction.

The only one of Bulma's friends that Parseri had met was her former boyfriend, Yamcha. Parseri got along quite well with him, as he had always treated her something of a little sister... though he seemed to be a little unfaithful to Bulma, which resulted in her not telling him of the planned event at the Kame House today. Parseri slipped on a yellow sun dress that Bulma had given her some months ago, making sure that her tail was wrapped securely around her waist before she joined Bulma downstairs.

It wasn't long after that before they were both taking off in Bulma's air car, heading towards a tropical island where the Kame House lay. Parseri watched land and ocean pass by below her in silence as Bulma rattled off more of their adventures, some of which she had told Parseri of before. Parseri heard stories of the fearsome Piccolo and the Red Ribbon Army, as well as interesting allies such as Lunch. Parseri had kept the fact that she had already met her a secret, since Lunch had seen her tail, hoping that she wouldn't be at the island.

* * *

After about an hour and a half flight, they landed on the small island where Master Roshi lived. Parseri stepped out of the air car, feeling the warm sand between her toes. The sea air was refreshing, and the wind was warm, smelling of saltwater. She breathed in deep with a smile before noticing that Bulma had already gone inside and scrambled in after her. Besides Bulma, the house was occupied by two men, and a gigantic turtle. Everybody fell silent when she came rushing in, and Bulma joined her at the door, smiling. She put a slim hand upon Parseri's shoulder and introduced her to everyone. 

"Guys, this is Parseri. She's been living with my family and I for almost a year. Parseri..." she spoke to her now, pointing to each member she introduced to her, "This is Turtle," the large turtle blushed, "Krillen," a very short and bald man raised his mug to her with a wide smile, "and Master Roshi." Yes, the old man that Bulma had warned her about. When he looked at her he seemed to turn red, and cackle with a creepy grin upon his face. The sunglasses didn't help either.

As Bulma went on to explain that Parseri had amnesia, Parseri seated herself on the sofa next to the bald man, Krillen. He turned to her and began to engage her in conversation,

"So amnesia, huh? That's gotta be tough. You really can't remember anything besides your name?"

She blushed and stammered,

"Uh... no. Nothing."

"Cut it out, Krillen. Talking about it makes her uncomfortable." Bulma snapped suddenly, scolding Krillen. Bulma was an odd one, alright. Parseri had never seen someone with such tremendous mood swings, not counting her encounter with Lunch, of course. She noticed that Bulma was angered easily, which sometimes made her uneasy, though she was grateful to her for being a good friend and allowing her to stay in her home.

"Oh, sorry..." Krillen mumbled and then asked, "Say Bulma... wasn't Yamcha going to come with you?"

Parseri tensed up for the coming hurricane that would come from Bulma. Whenever Yamcha's name was mentioned, she always blew up in rage. However, she never got the chance to vent her anger out on them, because it was just then when a voice floated in through the open door,

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Parseri saw everybody's face light up as the rushed outside, shouting,

"Goku!"

Blinking in surprise, she paused for a moment before hurrying after them. She was to finally meet the infamous Goku of Bulma's stories. She peered outside through the door to find the group huddled around a man holding a small child. He was quite tall, with a familiar feel to him. A cold familiar feeling, though he seemed warm and friendly. She tentatively padded outside towards the group as he was introducing his son, Gohan. She smiled at young Gohan, who blushed and hid behind his father's leg. Goku smiled down at his son before looking up at Parseri.

"Who's this?" He asked. Parseri stepped forward and bowed at the waist, finally used to this odd earth custom.

"My name is Parseri. I'm a friend of Bulma's."

They all conversed happily until Bulma pointed out something that chilled Parseri to the bone... little Gohan had a tail. AsBulma asked Goku a nervous question about something called the full moon, Parseri froze, staring at the child and his father. Her mouth became dry and her heart began to beat rapidly.

"_Why..."_ She thought frantically to herself, _"Why is this happening? Why is this coming back to me now? Why now?"_

Something suddenly felt very wrong, and she wondered if she was dreaming. The sudden appearance of someone with a tail had to be a bad omen of some sort. It had only caused her trouble in the past. Her train of thought derailed suddenly when the conversation being held by the group took a different turn.

Goku was glaring, nervously up at the sky, saying he felt a large and horrible power. Parseri blinked, confused. She had never heard of such a thing. What was he talking about. Krillen and Master Roshi seemed to feel this power as well, saying that it was growing nearer. The feeling that something bad was yet to happen grew in the pit of her stomach. They all stood in silence, staring up at the sky, looking for something... or someone... Parseri wasn't sure.

Soon they could see a figure flying through the air heading straight towards them and Parseri's face paled. Tails... flying people... this was too much of a horrible coincidence. What was going on? It was almost as if... as if _they_ had found her. She stood, trembling with wide eyes to the sky, watching the figure draw nearer and nearer to them with great speed, though it all seemed to move in slow motion for her. The form looked too familiar. She tried to swallow as she took a staggering step backward, but found her mouth too dry to do so... and to her horror, she saw Raditz descend from the skies and onto the soft sand of the beach.

* * *

She couldn't believe her eyes. None of them could! She wanted to run and hide, but her body wouldn't move. If she didn't run, he would surely spot her… but he seemed to be interested only in Goku. It was a long time before someone spoke. Everyone was tense, Goku and Krillin stood ready to defend the island while Raditz scanned Goku with his scouter. 

"So… we meet again." Raditz leered. "You've grown up, haven't you?"

Goku stared at him shocked, making Raditz smirk, "I recognize you though, Kakarrot."

Goku murmured, trying to repeat the strange word he had just said before asking, confused.

"Huh…? What did you say?"

"Kakarrot… That's you're name." He grinned.

"My name?" Goku repeated, blinking. All at once, everyone eased up. Though the tension still lay thick in the air, everyone stood, completely dumbfounded. Just what was he talking about? Krillin finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence,

"Who is this guy? He's can't be right in the head…"

Raditz growled, baring his teeth and stepped forward and demanded in a strong, interrogating tone,

"Kakarrot! What have you been _doing_ all this time! You were assigned a mission to annihilate all intelligent life on this planet, now _why haven't you carried it out_!" he finished, snarling angrily. Parseri, who now hid from view behind Bulma, cringed at his tone as she grasped the back of her jacket and pressed her forehead into her back in terror. Goku blinked again at this, still having no clue what was going on. He looked back at Master Roshi, hoping for an answer, though he seemed to be just as lost as Goku. He raised an eyebrow as he turned back to face this stranger. Krillin, however, had seemed to have enough of this.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but you've obviously got the wrong guy here." He sauntered up the beach toward Raditz with a superior sort of swagger. With a wave of his hand, he made a "shushing" noise in an attempt to shoo him away.

"He's obviously drunk- look at this guy! Look, buddy. I think it's best you leave. Allow me to escort you off the island."

As Krillin approached him, Parseri peeked over Bulma's shoulder in time to see Raditz scan Krillin on his scouter and smirk. Her eyes widened as his tail seemed to glow red-hot! Goku noticed this too before Krillin and jumped to warn him with a shout.

"Krillin, _wait_!"

Quick as lightening, Raditz's tail whipped Krillin hard across the face, sending him crashing into the side of the house. Only his legs stuck out from the broken paneling. Parseri cringed behind Bulma again, squeezing her eyes shut with a tiny squeal. Goku shouted Krillin's name in anger and concern before whipping his head back to Raditz, only to receive another shock. His eyes widened as he saw a furry appendage wagging at Raditz's side.

"A tail!"

Bulma and Master Roshi screamed in panic and shock. Raditz only chuckled in triumph,

"So, now you recognize me?"

"Wh-what? I don't know what you're talking about!" Goku shouted angrily at him, "I've never even _seen_ you before!"

Raditz paused, scowling for a moment. Soon he looked back up at Goku and demanded,

"Kakarrot! Are you trying to tell me that you have no idea who I am!"

"Look, I don't know who this Kakarrot person is, but I'm not him. My name is Goku. You'll have to look somewhere else." Goku replied forcefully.

Raditz snapped angrily back at him,

"You fool! I can't believe you've forgotten everything! What, were you hit on the head as a child, or something! How could you have forgotten who you are!"

Master Roshi made a small gasping noise next to Bulma and Parseri. He seemed to know something about this. Parseri looked at him in worry, still holding onto the back of Bulma's jacket, ducking behind her shoulders.

"Wait… y-yes. I was. I don't remember it very well, but I did hit my head as a child… I still have a scar where it happened…" Goku began, but raditz would hear no more.

Raditz took a step forward, his rage growing into something enormous. He roared angrily at him,

"_Idiot_! You _did_ forget!"

"For the last time, what are you talking about!" Goku demanded, clenching his fists. Raditz opened his mouth to answer, but Master Roshi spoke,

"Goku… There's something I have to tell you that your grandfather once told me…" All eyes were on him, and he continued his tale.

"Once, when he was walking through the woods, he came across a crater that had recently been made in the ground. He decided to take a closer look and found what looked like a small spaceship… and next to it was a small child, lying in a little round pod… you, Goku!

Your grandfather, Gohan, tried to take you in and raise you as his own, but you were wild- unable to be controlled, and unusually strong and powerful for a baby. You wouldn't have anything to do with Gohan and his kindness… until one day, there was a horrible accident. You fell into a deep ravine and badly damaged your head. Your grandfather took you home and cared for you as best as he could. He feared he had lost you, but for reasons unexplainable, you miraculously survived the fall. You made a full recovery when any other child would have died, and from that day on you were a happy and loving boy."

There was silence after Master Roshi finished his story until Goku asked, bewildered,

"I'm… from outer space?"

Master Roshi nodded and Bulma tilted her head to the side in wonder,

"I guess that would make a lot of sense. You think this guy has some connection with Goku?"

"I guess that could be possible." Master Roshi murmured. Goku growled and turned back to Raditz.

"Alright, you've got my attention. Now tell me who you are!"

Raditz closed his eyes his eyes with an annoyed sigh and answered,

"Very well… since you have forgotten everything, I think it's best I bring you up to date. After all, you _are_ going to be working for me from now on, and I prefer my underlings to be well informed." He opened his eyes at the sound of rattling wood as Krillin emerged from the hole in the side of the house, clutching his head. With a smirk, Raditz began to speak.

"You were born on the planet Vegeta, Kakarrot. You're a warrior of a very proud race… a Saiyan. Just like me." He chuckled gruesomely at everyone's shocked and mortified expression. He cackled malevolently before adding, "Allow me to introduce myself to you… I'm Raditz, your _big brother_." Master Roshi's jaw dropped. Krillin gasped, taking a step backward. Parseri twitched, her eyes wide open. Bulma shouted in panicked realization,

"Goku! He looks just like you!"

Goku could only stare, trembling with shock. Raditz grinned evilly at him as he continued his little history lesson,

"You were sent here as a baby to destroy this planet a long time ago, Kakarrot… and might I add that you failed miserably on your mission… a mission that should have been so _simple_!"

Goku's forehead began to sweat as he continued to listen to his so-called big brother.

"You see, we Saiyans have very specific jobs… You _could_ call us planet-brokers. We scour space for planets that would bring in a feasible profit and then send our troops in to terminate all life-forms to prepare the planet for sale. We have a very good system, and are very efficient in our work. If we come across a planet with strong inhabitants, we send our stronger warriors to do the job… But for a planet as pathetic and weak as this one, one of our babies are more than enough to get the job done. However, lately… since there are no longer any Saiyan children, we warriors have been forced to take painfully easy assignments to take out races that disgrace our strength."

Parseri twitched, again, anger boiling up inside her.

"Some time ago, our home planet, Vegeta was destroyed… There are only a handful of us left… including you." He paused before snarling at Goku, "Though I must say you are a disgrace! This planet would have been easy enough to take over if only you had remembered! You could have finished in less than a month!" He put a hand on his hip and snapped with a calmer tone, "Especially considering that this planet has a pretty nice sized moon."

"What." Goku hissed, "Was I supposed to destroy that too?"

Growling, Raditz clenched a fist angrily and glared at him,

"What are you talking about! You know very well that a full moon is the only way to unlock your true power! Haven't you ever even looked at the moon! It's impossible that you could have lived your entire life without looking at it even once!" Bulma, Krillin and Master Roshi trembled in terror. They remembered the terror they experienced when Goku had transformed into a gigantic ape. Suddenly, Raditz shouted in alarm,

"What happened to your tail, Kakarrot!"

Parseri felt her tail twitch as she tensed up. There was a purpose for the tails? She heard Goku shout back at him that it had been removed a long time ago, which didn't seem like a bad idea since it was the cause of all her problems. Raditz roared in anger,

"Do you have any idea what you've done! You've lost your ability to transform in the full moon! Without your tail, your true power is gone!"

"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH!" Goku shouted, "I don't care who or what you say I am! I don't need a brother like you when I already have a family and friends here! My name is Goku, and I live here! I think it's time you get out of here and leave us alone!"

"Yeah!" Master Roshi stepped forward, "Just because you're related by blood, doesn't mean he has to live your shameful life!"

"Just go away!" Bulma added, in a frightened voice. Raditz chuckled at this and then drawled, folding his arms over his chest once again,

"So, baby brother wants to be left alone… well too bad that's not going to happen. You see, there's a reason why I sought you out, Kakarrot. Since we're two of the very few remaining Saiyans alive, I came to collect you to aide us in an assignment that requires a little more manpower and is worth a lot. You're not as powerful as I had hoped, but you should still manage nicely."

He chuckled as he sauntered up to his brother, getting into his face. Intimidated, Goku staggered backward a few steps. "Does this news excite you? It should. I've come to take you back."

Little Gohan broke free from Bulma, who had been holding onto him and scrambled towards his father.

"No! Daddy!"

Bulma screamed, lunging forward to catch him, tearing herself from Parseri's grasp, leaving her in plain view. Parseri squeaked and stretched an arm out towards her, petrified in fright,

"No- _wait_!"

It was silent except for Goku trying to pry his son off of his leg. Her eyes shakily slid in Raditz's direction as she heard a soft, sinister chuckle grow louder and louder. She stood there lamely, barefoot in the sand, feeling as if the world was crashing down upon her. He roared with laughter that rumbled in his chest, shaking his massive arms still folded over it.

"Well, well… Two Saiyans for the price of one, this _is_ a surprise." He leered at her. Parseri swallowed, making a deep gulping noise in her throat as he began to walk towards her. "We were wondering what happened to you, Parseri."

All eyes were now on her. Bulma stammered up at her, now sitting in the sand, holding Gohan tightly against her,

"Parseri… what is he talking about?"

Raditz cackled as he circled her slowly,

"So, you've been more careful about letting other know who you are. Nice to see that you finally got the hang of hiding your tail." He smirked for a moment before he stopped in front of her with a scowl, "Unless you've also rid yourself of it. I do hope you still have it… Vegeta wouldn't be very pleased with you at all, now would he?"

She shook slightly before unwrapping her tail from around her slim waist to poke it out from beneath her dress to show him that she needn't be punished by the short, sinister prince. Satisfied, Raditz smirked once again, and glanced at Bulma who was still stammering, puzzled and shocked.

"Parseri… I don't understand… Are you really a… are you really like he and Goku?"

Not taking her eyes off of Raditz, she answered as calmly as she could.

"Partially… my father was a Saiyan. I lived with my mother and step-father on my home planet until about a year ago when he and two other Saiyans invaded and killed everyone on my planet. I found out who… and _what_ I was that day…" She trembled slightly and looked down at Bulma, "They killed everyone, Bulma… and then they took me away from my home… everything was burning…" She sunk to her knees, her eyes becoming somewhat hazy as her burning village roared back to life in her mind.

"I tried so many times to escape… Then I finally ended up here…"

"Hah." Raditz cut her off, "You're just lucky that we had to send you away… But we told you we'd find you again, didn't we? I hope you didn't think you'd _really_ escaped us, girly. Vegeta will be very pleased to hear that you've been found."

Her eyes widened as her head snapped up.

"No." She whispered, and then stood up, shouting, "No! You're _not _taking me back! And you're _not_ taking Goku! We're staying here!"

"Nice to see you still have that same spunk." He chuckled again at her before tilting his head to the side, looking around her. "Interesting…" Parseri and Goku followed his gaze to Gohan.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you, Kakarrot… I couldn't help noticing that your _son_ still has his tail." He smirked, pausing for a moment as if trying to come to a decision. Goku stepped in front of Gohan who was still in Bulma's arms and shouted at his brother to leave his son alone. Raditz stepped forward with a grim smile, ignoring Goku, "Very well… I'll just take the boy instead."

"No!" Parseri shouted. Krillin murmured to Goku, getting into a fighting stance. Goku nodded and stepped forward to take his place at Krillin's side. He roared and took a fighting stance of his own, making Raditz cock an amused eyebrow,

"All that spirit of yours is wasted here, brother. You should come with us. It's in your blood, you know… You _love_ to fight." Goku grit his teeth and clenched his fists. Without another word, Raditz began to make his way to Gohan, no matter how many people stood in his path. Goku froze in a cold mix of fear and anger as he saw Raditz coming closer. Bulma clutched tightly to Gohan and Parseri stood in front of them. Krillin and Goku stood in front of her, side by side.

"Don't worry, Goku. I'm right here with you." Krillin assured his best friend.

"Just stay close to Gohan." Goku answered, tensing up the closer Raditz came to them. Goku roared and prepared to throw a punch, but before he could even swing, he found himself flying through the air and landing in the sand at the shore after being kicked hard in the gut. Bulma screamed Goku's name and loosened her grip on Gohan, which gave his son the opportunity to scamper towards his father, who lie writhing on the ground. Raditz's evil smile grew and he followed the child down the beach, walking in slow, terrifying steps. Parseri scrambled in front of Raditz, spreading her arms out to block his way, but he only swatted her out of his way with his left hand, sending her shoulder-first into the sand nearby. He grasped the back of Gohan's jacket and picked him up, dangling him over his fallen father.

"New game, little brother… and now that I've got your son, I suggest you listen very carefully." He smirked, "I'm going to give you a little assignment; Eliminate one-hundred earthlings within twenty-four hours and your son lives. Just call it our way of initiating you into our little group. Just stack them here on the beach when you're done before I come to you both back. I'll be back tomorrow for a head count. Though it really doesn't matter if you kill one-hundred humans or not. I've decided that the Earth will be our next target."

_"No!" _Goku screamed in his head. Parseri, holding her shoulder gasped in horror at these words. Everyone else stammered vowels, unable to speak clearly or even move.

"I hope you'll come through for me on this one Kakarrot. See that you don't forget this this time. After all, I'm going to be spending some quality-time with my nephew here, and it would be a shame if I'd have to hurt him." He lifted the child to look him in the face and cackled as Gohan wailed in fear.

"Daddy help! I'm scared!"

Raditz's maniacal laughing grew louder as he blasted off into the sky with the small, crying child. His voice echoed through the air as he disappeared into the clouds.

"Show me what you've got Kakarrot! Make me proud!"

Goku's pained cry echoed after him, calling his son's name.


	8. An Unlikely Duo

**Author's Note:** Ohhh boy. Has it been a long time. This chapter took a little longer than expected. It's been staggering on for awhile simply because… even though the Raditz episodes were a huge turning point in the dragon ball series, and a VERY huge turning point for Parseri… I never really held much interest in them. This chapter was _not _fun to write. Particularly because I had already trudged through one Raditz chapter… So sorry if this chapter sort of ends in crap, but I was getting kind of burnt out… But now that mid-terms are over I should hopefully be dishing these out at a normal pace again. I've already got a chunk of chapter 9 written when I just got sick of writing about Raditz. (ha ha ha) As always, thanks to Meca-Vegeta for always pushing me right along with inspiration and friendship. .

**Chapter Eight: An Unlikely Duo**

Bulma and Krillin helped Goku to the porch so he could sit on the steps of the Kame House. Goku was still in a lot of pain from Raditz's kick. Everyone crouched next to him, trying to console the enraged and desperate father.

"I'm sorry, Goku." Master Roshi bowed his head, "There was nothing that we could do."

"I just hope Gohan's alright…" Goku cringed, making a slow recover from the blow.

"Well the way I see it, Gohan's safe as long as Raditz wants you to join him." Bulma spoke aloud, in thought. "If he wanted to hurt Gohan, we would have."

"I hope he's alright too." Parseri murmured, sitting on the sand in front of the steps, still holding her shoulder. Krillin, who's hand returned to his bleeding head from time to time, sat next to her.

"How's your shoulder?"

Parseri smirked and answered,

"It's fine. How's your head?"

"It's fine. You take hits pretty well, don't you? I wouldn't have expected that from you!"

"This is nothing. He didn't hit me, he pushed me, and it wasn't his full strength… not even close." Parseri stood up, "I've experienced worse, starting from the moment they found me and saw my tail."

Goku's eyes widened and he sat forward, preparing to stand,

"That's it!" He exclaimed, scowling, "His tail!"

All eyes were on Goku now as he continued,

"That's his weak point! Remember when someone grabbed my tail?"

"It hurts! It hurts so much that you're almost paralyzed from the pain!" Parseri gasped in realization, "You're right!"

"That's completely insane!" Krillin shouted, "How do you expect to pull that off?"

"Not alone…" Goku answered.

"It's still suicidal!"

"It's the only plan we've got!" Parseri argued.

"That's enough! Stop fighting!" The old man roared, "We'll come along, Goku and do what we can." He turned to Krillin and added, "Tien and Yamcha aren't here, after all."

"W-well… I guess it could be possible if we all go together… There are more of us than him…" Krillin thought aloud, his forehead sweating nervously, "But it's still not likely…"

"Don't worry so much, Krillin!" Bulma cut in, "If anything happens to any of you, I'll just wish you back to life with the Dragon Balls."

Krillin blinked at her for a moment before a wide grin spread across his face. His relief was cut short, however, when Goku brought up a very important fact.

"Wait… That's not going to work, Krillin. You can't make the same wish twice." Krillin and Bulma looked at him, wide-eyed as he continued, "You and Master Roshi have already been wished back to life."

There was a long silence that fell upon the group. It was risky, and the probability of them pulling it off wasn't very likely at all. But even so, Krillin lifted his head to look up at Goku,

"I'm in."

"Me too." Master Roshi, raised his walking stick in the air.

"I'll do whatever I can." Parseri smiled, "Since I spent so much time with him, maybe I could predict some of his moves!"

"Good thinking!" Goku grinned at her before looking to the others. "Thanks guys."

"You'll never succeed… You're too _weak_!" A loud booming voice from the sky spoke. They all looked up in alarm to see a caped green man, hovering above the island. Everyone but Parseri recognized who it was with a pang, and shouted,

"Piccolo!"

Bulma sank to her knees and began to crawl away, and Piccolo landed. Goku and Krillin tensed up and slid into a fighting stance as Master Roshi yelled angrily at the intruder,

"What are you doing here, Piccolo?! This is _my_ island!!"

"I followed _him _here." Piccolo spoke with a grim tone in his voice. "I've seen some of his power, and if you go with these three, you won't stand a chance." He smirked at the shocked expressions that were slapped on all of their faces before he continued, "I will go with you."

Piccolo continued to gaze at Goku, but Goku only glared back, his expression unreadable.

"You must have realized by now that his strength is extraordinary… He's an opponent that neither of us could stand up to alone. But together… there's a slight chance we could win."

"What the hell has come over you…? This isn't like you at all!" Goku narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. Piccolo chuckled sinisterly before answering.

"Don't get me wrong, Son. It's not as though I've changed my ways. I don't care about peace, and I don't care what happens to your son." He scowled malevolently, "The only reason I'm considering working with you is because he stands in my way of my goal; world domination. So after this is through, the next time we meet will be as enemies, same as always."

"I'm not going to stand by as you take over the world, Piccolo… But on our temporary partnership, I can agree on." Goku smirked back at him before turning to Bulma, "We're going to need your Dragon Radar, Bulma. My son had a Dragon Ball on his hat; we can find them that way."

"S-sure…" Bulma stammered, shakily handing him the radar. Goku took it from her and then cupped a hand around his mouth.

"Kinto-Un!!!" He called into the sky, and in no time at all, a golden cloud obediently veered down to the shore of the island, allowing Goku to jump atop it. "Let's go, Piccolo!!"

"Right." Piccolo grunted as they both blasted off into the skies. They were mere specks in the sky within seconds.

Master Roshi looked up after them, shielding his eyes from the sun and cackled,

"Wow! Look at those two! They might actually have a chance against him!"

"I don't know… Is it really safe to just trust Piccolo like that?" Bulma whimpered.

"I don't trust him." Krillin grumbled. Master Roshi whipped around and shouted excitedly,

"What are you talking about! This is gonna be the fight of the century and I wouldn't miss it for the world! Bulma! Do you remember the coordinates from the Dragon radar? We're going too!"

Parseri smiled as Bulma scrambled to the air car to fire up the engine. This was definitely something she wanted to see. For the first time, in a long time she was filled with hope… and that wasn't usual when it came to Raditz, Nappa and Vegeta.

* * *

Miles and miles away, Raditz was stuffing his weeping nephew into his space pod for some peace and quiet. He climbed out of the crater his ship had made upon arrival and found his stomach rumbling, so he decided to go and look for something to eat.

He explored the surrounding area and found cattle and several trees baring fruit. He greedily ate them all, savagely tearing into the meat of the cows while they were still alive, relishing in their pained cries and moans. He ripped all the fruit he could find off of the trees and bit into them, savoring the juices that flowed into his mouth and abandoned each piece of fruit when he felt he got enough out of it, leaving a lot of them half-eaten on the ground. Satisfied with his meal, he chuckled as he returned to the crater.

Upon his return, his scouter gave him a warning signal, and curiously, he pushed the button to receive the reading. His eyes widened with shock when he read the figures on the tiny screen.

"Wh-what? The scouter is picking up a battle power of seven-hundred and ten... And it's close."

With narrowed eyes, he followed the signal until he was looking straight at its source… his own ship. He bared his teeth and growled in disbelief,

"What? How can that be possible?! It can't be coming from Kakarrot's son… It's too high a battle power for his age." He read the figures on the screen once more before switching it off, "It's gotta be malfunctioning."

But just then, his scouter gave another warning signal. He read this new one and glared angrily.

"There are two readings…! Battle powers of three-hundred, twenty-two and three-hundred and thirty-four." He paused, his scowl growing uglier by the second, "Kakarrot has a battle power of three-hundred and thirty-four…"

He looked up at the sky and spoke to himself in a low voice,

"There's no way he would be coming here… He can't beat me and he knows it! And he doesn't even know where I am in the first place." He grumbled and switched off his scouter once more, "I've had it with this piece of junk. It's completely malfunctioning!"

But once more his scouter received a warning signal, and once more he looked up at the sky. To his shock, he found two figures closing in on him. But that couldn't be right… And if that reading wasn't the result of a malfunction…

"No! There's definitely some kind of mistake here! It's impossible for a child of his size to have a battle power of seven-hundred and ten! I'm sure of it!"

He whirled around with a hiss as Goku and Piccolo landed. There was a long reign of silence between the three of them, they glared threateningly at their opponent. Raditz finally broke the silence with a chuckle,

"So, the green man was the other one, huh? Tell me… how did you find me?"

Goku growled back at his brother, clenching his fists,

"You think we'd tell you?!"

A cold smirk spread across Raditz's face,

"Very well… I will ask you a different question then… Why the hell are you here?"

With fiery eyes and bared teeth, Goku roared,

"I want my son! Tell me where he is!"

Raditz laughed loudly and put a hand on his hip,

"So demanding…"

"Tell me!"

Raditz jerked his head to the side with a callous smirk, directing his brother to the large crater. Goku lifted off of the ground and floated upward until he could see deep down in the crater. He found his son, curled up in the space pod. Raditz shouted up at him,

"Are you telling me that you still intend to defy your brother? I strongly suggest that you join us, Kakarrot…"

"I don't have any brothers, and I'm not going _anywhere_!!"

"I see…" Raditz replied lowly, though still carrying a cold smirk upon his face, "You disappoint me, little brother…"

"Enough of the talking!" Piccolo roared as he whipped off his cape and tossed it aside, "We're here to fight, aren't we?" The cape landed on the ground with a loud "thud." His turban followed shortly afterwards. Goku blinked for a moment before exclaiming,

"Piccolo! You train with weighted clothing too?"

"Yeah, just like you."

Raditz narrowed his eyes as Piccolo's battle power jumped up to four-hundred and eight on his scouter. Goku smiled childishly and went to work removing his own weighted clothing, each article raising his power level as they hit the ground. He scowled at his brother's new reading of four-hundred and fifteen, and gazed at them. They seemed to be more confident now that they made themselves slightly lighter. He let out a sinister laugh with a hand on his hip,

"You think you've gotten stronger just by doing that? You fools! Who do you think I am? To think that you now believe you have a chance at beating me! This is what they mean when they say you don't know your place."

"Strength doesn't always ensure victory!" Goku shouted, standing tall with a broad smirk upon his face, "We've got a strategy!"

"Is that so…" Raditz chuckled, folding his arms over his chest. "Well, either way, I've tired of the both of you… Kakarrot… I don't think I want you to join our group any longer…"

His wicked face twisted into an even more maniacal grin,

"You'd only slow us down. You're a disgrace."

Goku and Piccolo prepared themselves as Raditz came at them. He was fast… so fast that he almost seemed to disappear from view. Before they could even think about what was happening, they were both elbowed hard in the small of their backs, shoving them forward painfully. They managed to recover from the hard blow and land safely, but turned to look at him with wide eyes. This was going to be rough.

* * *

"Are we going to be able to find them?" Parseri asked Bulma, who was flying the car.

"I think we should be getting close."

"I just hope we get there in time." Krillin murmured, looking out the window at the land below, "What if we get there and Piccolo's taken out Goku already after they defeat-"

A sharp glare from Bulma stopped him before he finished the sentence. Parseri gazed out at the window as well, allowing herself to be absorbed in her own thoughts.

Deep down… she always knew that they would find her again, though she had always hoped against it. With a mournful sigh, she revisited all those painful memories during her last day on Faiasei, her time spent in space as Vegeta's prisoner, the day she was sent away…

She looked back on this certain memory in wonder now… She remembered little about that day- only bits and pieces. The obese pink man… Vegeta coming to the rescue… watching him smash the navigational system in the pod she would take… his face coming closer, their noses almost touching… his hand touching hers through the glass, as if to give her some comfort.

_"Don't worry, you'll be fine."_

Her heart skipped a beat and she shook her head vigorously, trying to rid herself of the thought. But her eyebrows furrowed in a frustrated confusion. He certainly had played the hero that day… and she found that she couldn't help hating him a little less because of it. He seemed almost… _protective_ of her… but why? Her thoughts whirled around in her head as she rested her chin upon a fisted hand.

"_Don't mistake me girl. I never promised to protect you from anything. I merely keep my men off of you because I want you for myself."_

Her face grew hot and red with slight embarrassment and anger. The jerk. That was about the only thing she could muster in her mind to explain how she felt. She had blocked her mind of all memory of her beloved village and her dark captor for an entire year after her new life began with Bulma… But with the arrival of Raditz, her mind block had burst open and released all sorts frustrating thoughts and emotions. She hated all three of them, she knew that. And she hated Vegeta the most… but even so… When her mind grew weary after keeping her past from her mind during the day, he visited her in her dreams where he was shining, alluring, and terrifying all at once. A small, pitying part of her wondered if he wanted her for himself so that he could be with one similar to him. It made _some_ sense, for she had once wanted, in the deepest corner of her heart, to find someone like her… Someone who wouldn't find her strange.

Somehow she knew that the reason wasn't as innocent as that. She had seen his eyes numerous times, and she was never able to detect any loneliness in them.

_"But then again…" _She thought, _"He's very strong, and is probably trained to bar such emotions from view. He only has a handful of people left of his entire race… That can't be thrown into the wind so easily."_

She debated these thoughts for a moment longer before snapping her eyes into a self-disgusted glare, _"Look at me… acting as if he's a person with FEELINGS. Complete nonsense."_

She continued to glare stonily out the window as they drew closer and closer to the battleground ahead, hoping and praying that their side would win.

* * *

Goku fell to the ground hard, receiving an elbow to the rib. The plan to capture Raditz's tail wasn't going as smoothly as they had hoped. Rising on all fours, he shouted over to his unlikely comrade only to receive a shock. Piccolo sat on the ground, clutching his left shoulder where his left arm should have been. A twitching smirk was displayed upon his green face as blood dribbled from the stub of his arm.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine." he growled as Raditz howled with laughter, "Let's just try something different this time."

"What did you have in mind?" Goku murmured as he moved closer to him, never taking his eyes off of Raditz.

"Well while you've been taking it easy all these years, I've been perfecting a new technique." He grinned.

"Will it be enough to do some damage?" Goku asked. Piccolo nodded and then he asked another question, "Can you do it with only one arm?"

"That won't be the problem… The problem will be keeping him occupied long enough for me to charge enough power… I think you know that's where _you_ come in, Son." He glanced grimly over at Goku in a condescending manner.

"Heh… You got it… Leave it to me!" Goku grinned and gripped the ground before pushing off, whipping himself towards his big brother Raditz for another go.

They met with a clash- fist blocking fist, elbow blocking elbow, arm blocking leg… it was all a blur and flurry of hits and misses that would dazzle the untrained eye… Though the only bystander who was in view was concentrating hard on gathering energy for their last resort. A move called _Makankosappo_… also known as the "Special Beam Cannon." Raditz felt invigorated. Though he planned to completely annihilate his pitiful failure of a brother, he was very pleased that at least he was giving him a proper warm-up. It was almost a challenge with the way his little brother fought with such desperation… such emotion… What an untrained oaf. To fight with your feelings was a sure path to defeat. He grinned and decided to stop playing around.

He slammed his knuckles into the side of his brother's face and threw an elbow into his back. He got a sick sort of satisfaction from hearing his weak groans of pain and agony, and a twisted smile grew the more he pummeled his pathetic brother into the ground. But he also grew quite annoyed at how persistent he was. Every time he knocked him down, he would only jump back up for more.

Goku was growing desperate. He wasn't going to hold out for much longer and Piccolo still needed more time. He slammed his palms together and cringed, pulling them both back.

"Ka…me…ha…me…"

Raditz glared up at him as energy began to crackle around him.

"…_Ha!!! _"

The Kamehameha Wave soared down from Goku's hands and made a beeline for Raditz. No matter where Raditz ran, Goku shifted the beam to follow him. With an enraged growl, Raditz whirled around to face the beam and slammed his fist into it… and with a great effort, he completely cancelled it out. Goku looked down in dismay, feeling drained from his last attack, cringing angrily. Raditz slowly looked back up at him with an evil grin,

"Brother…! Let me show you how it's done!"

With absolutely no time wasted to charge power, he hurled a crackling, twisting beam of such tremendous power that it knocked Goku clear out of the sky and onto the ground where he know lay lingering somewhere in between conscious and unconscious. Raditz sprinted toward his brother to land another blow to him, but skid to a stop when his scouter beeped alarmingly in his ear. With a grunt of concern, he whipped his head in Piccolo's direction where the one-armed green man had just finished powering up his greatest attack yet.

"Damn it!" He roared as he read his scouter, "Kakarrot was the bait…! Power reading is Thirteen-hundred and thirty- _I can't block that!!!! _"

Piccolo's voice roared over the crackling of his power as he pointed his finger straight at Raditz,

"_Makankosappo!!! _"

His beam shot toward Raditz with great speed, like a spiraling death ray.Raditz and Goku could only watch, wide-eyed. As he saw his impending doom draw nearer, he growled loudly and shifted away at the last moment, feeling his right shoulder armor shatter and his shoulder burn.

* * *

They saw a blinding white light off in the distance that seemed to take up much of the sky for a few moments, and Krillin lurched forward to point over Bulma's right shoulder and point to her left, nearly jabbing her in the eye.

"There! Over there! That's _gotta_ be it!"

Parseri gasped silently as she saw the light begin to fade. She watched a nearby mountain begin to crumble and prayed as hard as she could to the Phoenix God for Goku to be safe.

* * *

Piccolo's eyes widened when the smoke cleared. Raditz was still standing with merely a second degree burn on his shoulder.

"H-he… He avoided it…?!"

"To think…" Raditz chuckled grimly, quaking with rage, "that you would actually inflict damage on me… That's an honor that I won't allow trash like you… I'm through playing around! _You're both dead!!! _" He erupted, thrusting a fist into the air. It wasn't long before a pale blue light crackled to life in his hand. Piccolo trembled as he felt the power rising so quickly within seconds. Raditz roared as he prepared to fling this power at him… but something stopped him… something… _hurt_. It hurt so much it was almost _paralyzing_ him. He slowly turned his head around to see Goku's hands clamped firmly around his tail! Goku laughed victoriously,

"Who would have thought! It's about time you let your guard down!" He squeezed his tail as hard as he could, making Raditz's knees buckle. He watched his big brother collapse onto the ground, growling and straining.

"Piccolo!" Goku shouted, "Do that thing one more time!"

"Nice work, Son! Now don't let him go, this is the last time I can do this!" Piccolo grinned, charging his power up once more. Raditz growled frantically at his younger brother who held his tail captive, pleading for his life…

"Kakarrot… Brother! Please! You can't be serious about doing this! Let go!"

"I'm not your brother and I'm not letting go! You tried to kill my son!"

Cringing with disgusted weakness, Raditz groaned, trying to make up any excuse for escape.

"I wasn't going to hurt the boy- I swear it! I was just trying to test you! If you didn't join us, I would have just left, I promise! I'll do just that- just let me go!" He sobbed angrily and pathetically to add to the effect. Goku's features softened…

"Don't listen to a word he says Goku!" Piccolo hollered, but Goku's compassionate ears only heard his brother's weeping.

"Do you promise to leave Earth and never come back?"

"I swear it! I'll leave at once and tell the others you're not coming. Please!"

Goku paused before nodding slowly, and releasing Raditz's tail from his grip,

"Okay…"

A slow, snake-like grin spread itself over Raditz's face as he stood up, plowing his elbow into his brother's gut with a loud and evil cackle.

"Oh, brother… you really are too soft. How can you call yourself a Saiyan…?"

With swift movements, Goku was soon at his brother's mercy, flat on his back with an armored boot planted painfully into his gut, crunching more and more into his bones by the second. He enjoyed tormenting Goku until he heard the frantic beeping of his scouter and the cracking of steel, glancing over his shoulder just in time to see a small youth explode out of his ship, destroying the space pod completely. His eyes widened, pausing in his assault on his brother. Son Gohan now stood meters away from them, hiccupping in rage.

* * *

Parseri pressed her forehead against the cool glass window, searching, probing the lands below with her eyes for some sign of combat. Something didn't feel right in her gut… something was wrong, and she noticed that Krillin seemed to sit uneasy as well. The ship had been silent for quite some time and continued to be until Roshi crowed, shattering the peace and quiet with excitement,

"Over there! There's something just ahead, see the energy?"

Krillin blinked ahead and replied, clenching his fists,

"He's right! Punch it Bulma, something doesn't feel right…"

* * *

Goku's eyes widened as he saw Gohan tumbled across the dusty ground after a swift backhand to the face from his dear uncle Raditz. Gohan has just displayed an awesome amount of power, but seeing his son under attack by this deadly foe snapped him out of all awe and shock.

As Raditz closed in on Gohan's fallen body, he charged a power blast in his right hand.

"No one hurts me… Much less a spoiled little brat like you." His growl turned into a grim smirk as he raised his crackling hand high in the air, "I must give you credit, nephew… You've shown power worthy of a Saiyan… now… _DIE_ LIKE ONE!" He snarled, preparing to unleash his deadly power onto the child, but something held him back… literally.

Goku screamed to Piccolo, who was still charging his final attack,

"Piccolo! My ribs are broken! Hurry up and finish him!"

Piccolo grinned, ecstatic at the fact that he would be able to take out his greatest rival along with this powerful foe.

"You got it, Son."

Once again Raditz tried to beg his way out of his own demise, but Goku knew better this time. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice, and his mistake came at the horrible price of being destroyed along with his evil brother. Raditz's shouts became louder and panicked as Piccolo continued to power up. He frantically swung his brother around, attempting to free himself… but it was too late, for the next thing he knew… Piccolo fired his _Makankosappo _once more.

* * *

It wasn't too long after that when Bulma landed the air ship nearby. Bulma, Krillin and Master Roshi knelt by Goku, while Piccolo and Parseri stood over Raditz who was down to his last moments on Earth.

"Idiot… It makes no sense, now we're both dead…" He coughed up blood onto the grass. Piccolo smirked above him as Parseri dropped to her knees before the fallen warrior.

"Heh, you don't have to worry about Son… His friends will have him back here in a matter of days."

Raditz's eyes widened and he choked,

"H-how… can that be possible…? Tell me…"

Piccolo gladly boasted the legends of the Dragon Balls with a proud smirk upon his face.

"See now? You're the only one who's failure is going to be permanent."

Slowly, a grin spread across Raditz's dying face.

"Fool. They'll have heard every word you just said… Now _they'll_ come for sure."

Parseri's eyes widened in fear,

"No!" She shouted down at him, "They can't! They just can't!"

"What is it? Who's coming?" Goku's staggering voice could suddenly be heard.

"The other two Saiyans…" Raditz laughed weakly, "They'll want to come and make a wish…" he paused to cough up more blood before continuing, "They're both even stronger than me… You may have beaten me… but you… you'll never stand a chance against _them_."

"When? When will they be here?" Parseri shook him frantically, causing Raditz to dare to laugh louder in his condition.

"About a year… Same as you…" He grinned sickly, "The coordinates of where they are now… and where you were then are different, but the distance is about the same."

She glanced up at Piccolo, her eyes wide with fear to see him shaking with rage as Raditz said his final words,

"Enjoy your brief victory while you can… 'cause you'll all be dead in a year."

His laugher grew louder and louder, making Parseri tremble in disbelief and fear. He cackled madly to his very last breath, which was cut drastically short by Piccolo's roar of anger. Parseri jumped startled as he hurled a powerful chi blast onto Raditz's head, killing him easily in his weakened state… and then it was over… he was gone. Parseri had to lean forward to make sure he was really dead.

* * *

Dead. Raditz was dead. Somehow… something inside of her felt complete, and she knew why. She remembered the promise she had made to herself within her first few days in captivation. To live.

_To live if only to see them dead… To live if only to see them dead…_

"…to see them dead." She whispered slowly in numb, disbelief. Dead. "He's dead."

Her head snapped up, returning from her mental limbo. While she had been entranced by Raditz's corpse, Goku had passed away, Piccolo had grown his arm back and was now holding Gohan in his newly regenerated arm… with much protesting from the others. Apparently Piccolo was going to try and train little Gohan to help defeat the Saiyans that now threatened earth. She slowly turned back to Raditz, hearing Piccolo's words as he readied himself to leave,

"You can tell Son when he gets back, that I've got his son for a whole year."

In a split second the past few years rewound in her head. She saw Raditz's death, she met Goku and his son. Her memories sped up as she squeezed her eyes shut…

Lunch's hair turning blond. The crater filling up with water to cover. Vegeta's hand pressed against the window. The pink monster. Her training. The horrible food. The keypad that unlocked the door. The space pod. Dead oak. Death. Fire…

…Her first kiss…

_She slowly opened her eyes, coming out of her trance, to meet his golden eyes. He smiled at her and planted a small and soft kiss on her forehead before turning and walking away towards his house, waving, not turning back. He called back with a smile on his face,_

_"Goodnight, Parseri! Good luck tomorrow! You'll make a great fire witch!"_

Her eyes filled with tears as she heard his voice echo into her soul as the memory faded into the present. She grit her teeth angrily and stood up.

"Wait!" Her voice halted Piccolo in his ascent to the skies. He looked down at her as if she were a pitiful ant. She glared up at him with purpose and shouted up to him.

"I'm coming with you."

"What?" Piccolo half chuckled with a frown on his face. The word was echoed by Bulma Krillin and Master Roshi in disbelief.

"I _said _I'm coming with you." She put her hands on her hips defiantly, "You have to train me too!"

As the others protested to her choice, Piccolo looked her up and down, taking in the appearance of this scrawny young girl donned in a yellow sundress.

"Train a pampered porcelain doll like you?" He snorted, "Why?"

She unwrapped her tail to let it swing low amongst her ankles,

"I'm Half-Saiyan too." He eyed her tail, but looked up towards the sky, uninterested. She stepped forward, quickly continuing, "I have some fighting experience… But, it's not enough. I need more training."

He snorted in disbelief again,

"This isn't a day camp, kid-"

"Please! I don't know a lot, but I can do more! I was trained by the strongest of the three Saiyans on the ship- it's the only reason they kept me alive!"

Piccolo slowly landed in front of her and glared coldly down into her eyes, but she didn't flinch. With a tough, yet resigned sigh he spoke,

"If I take you, you realized that you're under my command for an entire year?"

She nodded.

"And that no amount of complaining is going to do you any good no matter how hard it gets?"

She nodded again.

"Very well. Just make sure you don't waste any of my time. C'mon." He jerked his head to signal her to follow as he lifted off the ground. Parseri stepped forward again, putting her hand out.

"Wait!"

"What now?" He growled down at her.

"I, uh… I can't fly…"

"What?!" He snarled.

"I just don't know how, okay?" She snarled right back.

He grumbled as he landed, scooping her up by her waist with his free arm,

"I'm already regretting this…"

"Wait!" This time Bulma spoke. Her eyes met Parseri's for a moment, and before she tried to talk her out of this again… she stopped, somewhat understanding. Instead, she smiled with a wave,

"Come back home once at the end of the year and I'll fix you up some battle gear." She tried to chuckle genuinely, "You can't save the planet in a sundress, now can you?"

With a soft smile, Parseri bade her friend farewell.

"Goodbye Bulma."

The remaining three watched as Piccolo rose high up into the air with two bodies beneath his arms; one unconscious child… and one young woman, donning a strong silence.

* * *

Millions of miles away, two Saiyans tore the fresh meat off of bones of those they had killed. They chewed deliberately as they heard the last of Raditz's conversation with grim smirks on their face.

Vegeta grinned as he heard Parseri's voice… frantic… close… She must have been leaning over Raditz's body. He chuckled as he tore off the remaining meat on the bone. He hoped that she really kept her promise to train with whoever it was that killed Raditz. He knew that their next meeting would be an interesting one indeed. Those Dragon Balls sounded fascinating as well. He suddenly pictured himself eternally young, ultimately powerful and the supreme ruler of the universe. Nothing could stop him. He chuckled through his teeth and announced his plan to Nappa. They would make the journey to Earth, and they would take the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality.

He climbed into his space pod with a crooked smile stretched across his face. Immortality… unlimited strength… and he was getting his favorite pet back. Things seemed to be turning in his favor. He chuckled mildly and spoke under his breath,

"Soon Parseri… soon."


	9. The Quiet Year

**Author's Note:** Heh heh heh… I have no good excuse for this long of a delay besides the usual writer's block… and… regrettably, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Holidays and the Nintendo Wii as well as school, work and a few other social engagements and problems that prevent me from being left alone enough to write. I'm sorry!!! Please forgive me! I feel so horrible, especially since some of you really REALLY like my story so far. I also apologize for how short this chapter is… ((Only five pages… -cries-)) I just wanted to end this chapter on the point that I did and was really psyched to get to the content in the next chapter. I'm going to come out with chapter ten ASAP!! And as always, thanks for your reviews and thank you Meca-Vegeta for looking over this stuff with me. You rule! Just for you, I will train myself HARD and the next time you visit I will BEAT YOUR ASS IN WII BOXING! You wait and see!

**Chapter Nine: The Quiet Year**

There she was… standing atop a hill of dead grass on her dusty planet, watching the red sun set. She wore her primitive brown dress, and no footwear of any kind. Her left foot slid up behind her right ankle to scratch the tendon lightly with her toes as her tail and dress fluttered gently in the warm breeze. Intrigued by this strange, peaceful scene in front of him, he ascended the hill until he was standing right behind her. Her hair smelled of smoke, fire, and hot spices… a primitive and tribal scent he had grown fond of. It was a smell he related to war- battle… where he felt completely unbound and free. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against her shoulder, soon feeling a soft hand, lightly brush against his hair.

"Are you not afraid?" She spoke. Her tone was lighter than usual… he had only heard her use that voice once before. He'd heard it when she laughed… just once. He found it comforting for some odd reason at this moment.

"Nn." He grunted in response, "Why should I be?"

"Because they're all going to die… and you'll be alone…"

"What…?" He looked up in slight annoyance. He never felt alone. He needed no one. What was she going on about? But as he looked over her shoulder, he found her village engulfed in flames. As he snaked an arm around her waist he smirked, brushing his lips across the skin of her shoulder, disregarding the thought. It was only that pitiful village after all.

"You don't care? They're all going to die." She repeated, strangely calm. He noted this tone in her voice and thought it very odd indeed that she would be so apathetic about her own village being burnt to a crisp… And even more asinine that she would think he'd ever care about the miserable vermin. The only thing worthy in this entire pathetic rock was held possessively in his arms. He chuckled as his lips met her neck behind her ear, tasting a few strands of her hair in his mouth,

"Why should I? It's only those weakling fire people."

She gave no response, which unnerved him, making him lift his head again. His eyes widened with an incredulous stare as he noticed that he was now looking upon the Imperial City of the Planet Vegeta in flames… _not_ the village on the fire planet. He heard her giggling as if she found this sight amusing and whipped her around to face him, enraged. He received a shock when he found that she had been replaced by Frieza, and her voice had melted into his maniacal cackle, growing louder and louder by the second. He released him as if he were burnt and with wild eyes, he blasted the warlord with everything he could muster.

When the smoke began to clear, he could hear no laughter… only the sound of his own breath, panting to keep up with his heartbeat. He stepped forward with a victorious smirk, waiting to see his most hated enemy completely annihilated. But when the smoke cleared he only found his young fire goddess, a crumpled heap on the ground lying completely motionless. He had blasted her left arm completely off, and there was not a gaping hole in her chest. With a pang, he flinched, jolting forward to pick her up, shaking her to try to wake her. But he noticed now that her eyes were open and clouded over. There was no life in her- a broken doll, lying limp in his arms. A wry laughter erupted behind him, alarming him and making him drop her body onto the ground. He stood and whirled around to find Frieza, his hand forming into a gun pointed straight towards his chest.

"Why Vegeta, it seems you were of no use to anyone after all. You father must be _proud_."

He cackled madly as he sent a powerful energy beam straight through Vegeta's heart. Time seemed to stop for a split second before dozens more where shot right through him in various other places. Everything dissolved into shadows… He was dying… He couldn't die… He wanted to make his wish… He had to beat Frieza and become the legend that he had always dreamed of… But now, everything was wasted. He spent his last, agonizing moment hating Frieza and hating himself for not being stronger.

Just before the end came, something shining as bright as the sun filled his entire senses. He could see the light, taste it, smell it, feel it, hear it… Something was drifting closer to him from the brightest point of this radiant brilliance. It was a person, holding his or her arms out to him… No, it was definitely a female. She was smiling at him… She really was something else when she smiled. She was getting so close that he had to squeeze his eyes shut, for it was becoming too bright to bear. He felt two soft hands gently cup his face, and he slowly opened his eyes, squinting against the golden light. She was smiling down at him, floating slightly above him. She continued smile softly at him as her eyes narrowed gently. She swept the blood from his lips with a smooth stroke of her thumb and drew closer to him, lazily closing her eyes. As her nose brushed against his, he could only do the same, and he soon felt her lips brush against his, feeling as soft as silk. Soon he felt life pouring into him from his mouth. His eyes opened wide as she broke the kiss, feeling his heart begin to beat again.

She smiled angelically down at him again, and he only narrowed his eyes in confused suspicion. He had never been touched by a woman this way. He wasn't exactly sure he really liked it. He definitely wasn't used to experiencing compassion… but here she was, his goddess that smelled of fire and spice, giving him life energy. She drew forward in what seemed like an embrace, and he tried to return it, but found her transparent. She seemed to be melting into him, healing the rest of his wounds. She sank deeper into his body until all that was left of her was the fluttering feeling in his chest before it died down, assimilating with his heartbeat. He stood once more atop the hill of dead grass, overlooking a village in cinders. He looked around and found a singed skeleton lying in the parched grass. The position of the pelvis told him that it had been a female… and it was lying where _she_ had once stood. He slowly dragged his eyes from her bones to the village that had been reduced to ashes, now being blown away by a sudden gust of wind. Without warning the wind changed direction and, as if out of revenge, the ashes blew full-force into his face, stinging him. He roared loudly in anger, rubbing his eyes with gloved fingers, but the more he rubbed, the faster the ashes came, stinging his face.

Vegeta's eyes snapped open as a beeping met his ears. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and turned the alarm off, looking out at the planet Arlia; a planet he had decided to visit for a short break on their journey to Earth. He grumbled, pushing her smiling face and laughter out of his mind as he pushed a few buttons in his ship and prepared to contact his comrade in the other ship. Her last days with him had certainly been quite distracting and left bothersome stains in his mind.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Earth…

It had already been half a year, and now Gohan joined Parseri in her training with Piccolo. Her first months with him had been rough, nearly brutal. He trained her with a hidden desperation that made him a harder teacher than Vegeta…

With Piccolo, she had mastered basic combative skills and had excelled in technique and speed. Once Gohan had joined them he trained them both in combative skill a bit more before moving onto chi attacks.

It was night time now, and Gohan was fast asleep in front of the fire while Parseri and Piccolo sat awake, watching over him. There was silence for awhile until Piccolo spoke,

"There's only six months left…" He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, "Are you going to be ready?"

Parseri stared at the fire for a moment before answering,

"I hope so."

"If you can only hope then we don't have a prayer." Piccolo snapped. She looked fully at him, slightly startled and asked wide-eyed,

"Do you think I can do it, Master Piccolo?"

"It's not a matter of whether or not I think you can, it's a matter of whether you not _you_ think you can."

"I'm confident in my abilities- I mean I know I'll do my best… But…" She trailed off. Piccolo grunted and finished her sentence,

"You're not confident in your mentality on the battle field." She nodded to his statement and then there was silence for a moment.

"You have… a history with the Saiyans then?" He asked gruffly.

"Yes. I was captive on their ship for months." She nodded again, "I'm worried… The strongest of the two- he's very good at mind games. He'd always get into my head or at the very least under my skin." She hugged her knees as she continued, "He… He saved my life before I was sent away… I don't exactly know how to feel about that…"

It was the first time she spoke aloud of the matter. She opened her mouth to speak once more, but closed it, feeling very flustered and unsure. Piccolo gazed at her out of the corner of his eyes again before staring into the fire.

"He's your enemy. Plain and simple as that and that's all you need to feel."

She nodded and answered,

"Yes, Master Piccolo."

They sat, gazing into the fire in silence once more for a long time after that, only speaking when Parseri's eyes traveled to Gohan's sleeping and tail-less form. Her eyes narrowed with curiosity as they had since she saw him for the first time after his solitary training. She looked over at Piccolo and asked,

"Master Piccolo… Do you know what happened to Gohan's tail?"

Piccolo stiffened and his gaze snapped to her tail lightly flicking at her ankle.

"I've asked Gohan… but he didn't know."

He slowly turned his head to look at her fully and spoke in a low tone,

"You should rid yourself of yours too."

Her eyes widened and she scooted away slightly,

"What- What do you-!? Did _you_ do that to him?"

Piccolo began to speak of everything he knew of the Saiyan race on the subject matter of tails and what happens during a full moon. He watched her face pale to a shade of white. He smirked grimly at her for a moment and nodded,

"You understand what I'm saying, I see." He said, gazing at her as she now trembled, "What can you remember?"

She clutched the sides of her face and whispered hoarsely,

"Not a lot… Just fragments of what seemed like a bad dream." She looked at her hands and continued,

"In the dream I looked at the moon and started to change… My hands… My hands were monstrous… My heart was pounding… Though I looked away from the moon, it was always burning in my mind as if it were poison. I felt as if I were going mad… I don't remember very much…" She looked at him now, "Just that feeling."

Piccolo grunted, bowing his head slightly,

"So you see, not only does your tail serve as a weakness if gotten a hold of, it also changes you into something you don't want to become." He glanced at her again, "A problem I can rectify very quickly and easily."

She clutched her tail and instinctively held it close to herself and he added,

"When you're ready."

She nodded, turning the situation over in her head. She had always hated her tail since she was little. It had done her little good besides saving her from the same fate as her people… But then she had wanted to die with them. There were many times she had wished her tail away… and if it weren't' for the pain it caused her just to grasp it roughly, she would have been rid of it long ago… But now that she thought about it… she wasn't sure how she'd feel if it were really gone. It had been a part of her for her entire life. It had been her curse, but now it was all she had left of herself at the moment. Besides… without the moon existing anymore, it seemed that the tail was less of a threat.

"Parseri." Piccolo's stern voice shredded through her train of thought. She jumped, startled and looked up at him.

"Yes?" She slightly yelped in surprise.

"If you do intend to keep your tail, just don't let it get in your way… or anyone else's."

He glared sternly into her eyes and she stared back. She nodded, understanding him perfectly and let him know when she was ready to lose her tail. He gave her a sharp, curt nod and sent her to bed with a wave of his hand and a brief order. As she curled up in front of the fire, she let her mind wander in both terror and awe, wondering what would happen when their year was up.

* * *

The second half of the year blew right by and before she knew it, Parseri was flying back to Capsule Corp. to visit Bulma, just as she had promised. The day of the Saiyan invasion was coming tomorrow, and Bulma had said she'd have combat attire ready for that day. Parseri vowed that she would defend the Earth. It was her home now and she'd do everything in her power to see that Nappa and Vegeta failed in whatever they came hoping to achieve… or die trying. Although…

* * *

So very far from what Parseri had now come to call home, another familiar planet still orbited around it's respective stars. So much time had passed since the inhabitants had been slain… So much time had passed since that night of slaughter and fire. So much time had passed since then that the god of the planet had wept, feeling for his lost people. The ashes were completely blown away now, leaving the planet dead and desolate. The sorrowful god searched the planet for a speck of life to grow from, only finding a small frond, fighting to begin a new life from the dying soil. He was the Phoenix God of the Faiajin people, and he was about to live up to his name.

The frond sprouted miles high into a tree, tall and glorious in its foliage. The life from this tree seeped through the soil, giving it renewed life. Plant-life scattered throughout the lands, filling the planet with life and air so fresh and clean. Wildlife that had inhabited the planet once before thrived once again in split seconds as the Phoenix God worked from their bones, making them whole and alive again.

With a snap of his powerful fingers, buildings were built just as they had been before the invasion. Streets crawled between happily made little huts and houses and fields were filled with plentiful crops. The Phoenix God saw that this was good and then turned to do his greatest deed of rebirth.

With a sweeping motion, he lowered his great arms to the earth and let his own power seep through the soil. This power spread to all the bones of the dead that laid upon the ground. Slowly, the bodies were raised from the dead, full of life… beautiful, renewed life. The Faiajin people, whose spirits had looked over the dead planet that was momentarily taken from them rejoiced, casting away their prejudice for each other and ended the hatred for their neighboring villages that had once been enemies.

There was one small village with less rejoicing than the others… A small village that was still missing one of its citizens… A citizen that had been shunned for so long, but had been watched over after her capture. The people of this village felt such guilt that this woman had been treated with such injustice and still survive to feel more pain by the hands of the men that had destroyed her home… that that very night, a small service was held in her honor. Candles were lit around a roaring bonfire as fire dancers stepped to a solemn inner drum.

Hoteri, the mother of the honored one, stood at the head of the crowd, holding her shawl closely to her as Raito held her. They, as well as the entire community, knew that their beloved Parseri was still alive, and they all wished and prayed as hard as they could, hoping that she would find her way home one day.


	10. Reunion

**Author's Note: **Surprise! Y'know that chapter that was half finished on my computer for five years? Yeah, well I found it and finished it. Funnily enough, I was intending to finish up the new chapter for my Persona fanfic... which I worked on last night, too... but this one got finished first. After a long streak of writer's block and then just abandonment, I had worried that I wouldn't be able to write Parseri anymore for fear I'd fallen out of tap with her character... But what I'd noticed as I started writing again (and couldn't stop), is that I'd never fallen out of tap with her character because she has many of the same qualities of my favorite character I'd play and roleplay in WoW.

I think part of the problem over the years of trying to come back to this fic is the fact that it's SO incredibly HARD to write Nappa now. Not that he's a very big part, but his original character has been completely and never coming back. I think everyone here has seen TFS Dragon Ball Z Abriged. When I'd try writing lines for him, I can only think of Abridged Nappa, and it's SO HARD not to write him that way... For now, I'm using the 'Nappa won't get lines' tactic until this is remedied. It'll be hard, though. Abridged Nappa is so Goddamn funny that he outshines the original character (whom I'd like to try staying a bit truer to). But, alas! The show must go on! I'm going to try writing more of this one too, as well as Dear Diary. I hope you like this chapter!

**Chapter Ten: Reunion**

Bulma smiled as she watched Parseri slide her arm through the material that made up her right glove, and Parseri smiled at how light the fabric felt.

"Do you like it? The fabric is thin, but strong. It's designed to empower you by magnifying the energy set off by your adrenaline." Bulma swelled with pride.

Parseri turned to her, very pleased,

"I like the fabric a lot, and I'm sure it'll help! Where's the rest of the battle uniform?"

Bulma beamed, turning her around and urging her towards the bathroom.

"I'll get the rest of it ready and lay it out for you while you're taking your bath."

"Bath? Wait! I don't have time for a bath, I have to get back to Gohan and Piccolo!" Parseri protested, but to no avail. The little blue-haired scientist scoffed at the half Saiyan who was covered from head to toe in dirt and scrapes from a year's hard training. Her sundress was so caked with dirt and grass stains that Bulma doubted it would ever be as yellow again.

"You're not wearing my creation until you're clean!" Bulma stated with finality and shoved her into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Parseri sighed, allowing her muscles to relax as she sank back into the tub. If Raditz had told them the truth, Nappa and Vegeta would be arriving sometime today. She blinked up at the ceiling and felt her heart begin to thud loudly within her chest. Today. They'd land today. Her breathing became a little ragged and she sunk lower into the bath so that her chin dipped into the water a little.

She would see Vegeta again… and she would fight him. She couldn't understand why, but something about the situation excited her. It was different from other situations where she was made to fight. When they made her fight Raditz in the training room, she was always afraid, confused, unsure. After a year with Piccolo, she felt prepared. She was eager to show her former captors that she wasn't the same frightened little girl anymore. She would show them both… and then…

She blinked suddenly… and then what? They had all trained very hard for the past year, yes. But had they really become strong enough to defeat _both_ Nappa and Vegeta? She had never really come close to what she had witnessed that day she spied Vegeta training alone. The same calm fear that had visited her often trickled down over her again as she dunked her head beneath the water to try and wash it away.

Would they really be able to win?

* * *

She stepped out of the bathtub and padded over to her new clothes, drying herself off momentarily as she studied them… because it only took a moment to study the clothing before her anger erupted.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?"

Her voice shook the entire compound that was Capsule Corporation and Bulma rushed to the bathroom door.

"What's wrong?" She banged on the door in alarm.

"What were you thinking? I can't wear this!"

"What do you mean? Doesn't it fit?" She asked as she opened the door, poking her head inside.

"Tha-that has nothing to do with it!" Parseri blushed angrily at the article of clothing in her hands. She looked past it at the long gloves and the even longer boots folded neatly on the counter for a moment with a grimace before looking back at what she held; a high-collard leotard which was cut high and would definitely show her thighs. Wouldn't this normally be the sort of thing she'd wear to a beach?

"Oh don't be a prude, Parseri…" Bulma rolled her eyes. "It'll be easier for you to move in this and you ARE going to wear it. I spent a year on it!"

Parseri blushed angrily at this reasoning. She had made it for her and spent a lot of time working on it… but even so!

"Isn't there…" Her face's redness deepened, "Something I could wear over it…?"

Grumbling under her breath, Bulma stormed off, leaving Parseri standing awkwardly in the bathroom, still naked. Seconds later, she returned and shoved a large mass of sleek, black cloth into her arms with a snarl,

"There."

Blinking stupidly at the bundle of cloth she now held, Parseri replied blankly,

"There, what?"

"Where that over it. It was part of my costume for a party last year." Bulma explained as Parseri sorted the black bundle out until she found it to be a long, billowing hooded cloak. It looked big enough to drape around her shoulders and stay closed for most out-of-battle situations. She grinned suddenly and hugged Bulma.

"Thank you, Bulma! It's perfect! No one will really be able to see anythi-" She stopped, pulling away and looking at the enraged look on her blue-haired friend's face.

"I didn't mean that the battle suit was-"

Bulma's glare stopped her from speaking.

"I really DO like the-"

Her glare stopped her again. Parseri's face flushed as she replied in a meek voice,

"I'll just… go change now…"

This seemed to be the right answer.

* * *

Soon, Parseri donned the new battle suit. She glanced at herself in the mirror, blushing. It looked like a bathing suit she had worn once… only this was cut provocatively high above her hip bones and had a high collar with a long zipper in the front. She detested the zipper, finding it quite irritating. The footwear she wore was uncomfortable enough to begin with since she normally never wore shoes, and this added a whole new awkward feeling to the outfit. The boots seemed to be compensating for how much skin was being shown of her legs, because they crept stocking-like all the way up to her thighs. She was still satisfied with the gloves, and enjoyed the feel of the fabric, none-the-less. She felt, however, more comfortable after draping the dramatic looking cloak over herself. As she stepped out of the bathroom, she found Bulma waiting for her, her anger seeming to have evaporated… and Parseri knew why. She dove forward and pulled her aqua-haired friend close in a tight hug. This might be the last time that they see each other alive.

She bade Bulma and her family goodbye and leaped into the air, grasping the power of flight quickly to speed off towards where she had left Piccolo and Gohan. Her feelings of dread and excitement seemed to heighten as she soared. Flashes of Vegeta's face zipped before her eyes. She saw his gentle face through the small portal window, putting his hand pityingly against the cool glass so that it might touch hers and give her comfort. She saw his terrifying face appear through the fog emitting from the public showering room. She saw his smirking face nod approvingly at her as he watched her progress while she sparred against Raditz.

She barely noticed the immense power that had landed until she felt the tremors from the earth rise and meet her in the sky. She slowed to a stop to hover, glaring ahead in alarm, her forehead starting to sweat. Was that them? Had they now landed? Her heart began to thud loudly and wildly in her chest.

Suddenly she wasn't so sure that she was ready. She had been in the presence of Nappa and Vegeta before, of course… but she hadn't been able to sense power levels at the time. Their power felt terrifyingly gargantuan and her confidence began to drop like a rock. Suddenly, a bright light filled the sky and the earth rumbled even more violently than before, sending tremors into the air and causing the wind to blow at a gushing speed. The power she had felt from one seemed to double into a monstrous being that was dissolving everything around it. Her heart was racing as she felt her head beginning to swim, panic sweeping over her. She was having trouble breathing as she stared ahead into the blinding light and soon found her world turning black. Her last fleeting moments she knew of consciousness, she felt herself falling from the sky.

* * *

"Hey… Hey! Par, wake up. Wake up, babe!"

Parseri groaned groggily, the familiar voice registering in her ears. She opened her eyes wearily to see Yamcha staring down at her, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Her sense coming back to her, she noticed that she was held protectively in his strong, bulky arms and that they were still airborne.

"You alright? I saw you as still as a statue during that burst of energy and then you just dropped out of the sky." She heard him say and moaned lightly, rubbing her head.

"I'm fine… What was that, anyway?" She answered quickly. He let her drop from his arms lightly, but held onto her hand to make sure she stay afloat in the air.

"Feels like they just took out a city…" Yamcha replied solemnly. She glanced up at him in alarm, almost squawking in disbelief. His glare silenced her and he nodded slowly, confirming this tale to be true. She felt herself shudder slightly as she gazed back in the direction of the towering power levels that were no doubt coming from Nappa and Vegeta.

"They're moving." Yamcha murmured, "I think they're moving toward the place where those other two powers are…"

Parseri's eyes widened. Gohan and Piccolo! Her head snapped to the side to look at Yamcha with urgency to find him smirking at her.

"You're headed there too, right? You ready?"

Blinking, she nodded. His grip tightened slightly around her hand, showing his support.

"Don't you go blacking out on me again, you hear Par? I've got you."

She smiled at him, nodding once again in silence before they both took off towards where Piccolo and Gohan silently awaited the arrival of the Saiyans.

* * *

Upon their arrival, Parseri noticed that quite an odd crowd had gathered. In the few seconds they had spent to stop and study the crowd, Parseri pulled up her black hood, gazing down with a relieved smile to see that Gohan and Piccolo were still safe. She noticed that they seemed to be separated into two groups. Gohan and Piccolo stood on one side with what seemed to be a small, floating child and a tall shirtless man who had three eyes. She also noticed, with a joyous jolt in her heart, that Krillin had joined them as well. Her smile faded, however when she studied the opposing side. There were seven of those short, stubby green men that she had seen Vegeta demolish so long ago. Behind them stood a large, bulky Nappa, grinning at Piccolo and the others, baring his teeth. Next to him, she spotted Vegeta. She felt a tightening in her throat as she tried to draw breath. This was it…

She felt a hand squeeze hers slightly and with a jolt, she glanced at Yamcha.

"You ready?" He spoke softly, with an eager smirk to leap into the fray that seemed to be about to begin. She looked down with a gulp and shook her head suddenly remembering.

"I… I still have trouble landing." She murmured, looking down at the ground that was so far away. He chucked and let go of her hand. She glanced at him again and he gave her a look equal to that of an over-protective brother,

"I've got you, Par."

He turned his head to face the crowd below and yelled, letting his voice ring out through the air,

"Hey! Wait for me!"

With a squeak, she watched Yamcha plummet towards the ground, drawing all attention to himself with a flourish of his long, mass of hair, and after giving herself a disgusted grunt, she followed suit, though plummeting considerably slower. As she neared the ground, she slowed shakily, glancing at Yamcha as he extended his arms toward her to catch and balance her, and with a grin, she clasped both her hands into his and he eased her down to the ground. The black hooded cloak that she wore billowed around her, keeping much of her concealed. Yamcha grinned down at her in a brotherly fashion and pulled the hood of her cloak down so that her face was no longer shadowed.

"He-hey!" She shouted back at him. Krillin and Gohan smiled widely at her while Piccolo scoffed lightly, folding his arms across his chest,

"You're late Parseri... what took you so long?"

She blushed meekly and bowed at the waist in his direction in a humble and obedient manner,

"I'm sorry, Master Piccolo... Things took a little longer than expected." She slowly rose back up to stand upright once more, still blushing at her light scolding from her teacher and glanced over at Gohan. He was giving her a wide grin that she couldn't help but return as she crossed to where he stood, close by the ever-watchful Piccolo.

* * *

He watched her as she moved from one side of the group to the other to stand by the Namek and the child. Something inside him felt greatly disappointed. He had never counted on her becoming familiar and friendly with the trash that dwelled here. She had even shown the Namek _respect_ and called him 'master!' With and irritable growl uttered beneath his breath, he folded his arms over his chest, watching her pat what must have been Kakarrot's child on the head with a wide smile. With a twitch of his brow he noted that she seemed to be rather happy on this planet. He hadn't intended her to be happy where she was _supposed_ to be hiding. His train of thought was broken by Nappa mumbling aloud,

"One… two… three… There's seven now."

Vegeta smirked, scanning the group quickly himself.

"Good eye, Nappa. Now it's seven against seven." He raised his voice to catch the attention of the opposing group, "Say… Why don't each of you take turns fighting our warriors?"

He watched Parseri jolt at the sound of his voice and turn fully to face him. His smirk broadened, locking eyes with her as he continued, chuckling grimly,

"It'll be like a game… Doesn't that sound fun?"

Parseri stared wide-eyed at him, taking a feeble step back. Next to her, Piccolo growled angrily.

"Don't patronize us! We'll take all of you on and that includes you two!"

"Hey, hey… hey, now…" Krillen waved his arms cautiously at him. "I don't see the harm in stalling a bit until Goku shows up… It sort of works in our benefit that way…"

"Hn." Piccolo grunted, "Whatever. If you wanna waste time, then that's up to you." He glanced at Parseri out of the corner of his eye for a moment before turning his head to face her. She stood completely still, staring across the field with an almost terrified look on her face. He glanced across the field as well and found her gaze locked with the shorter of the two Saiyans. He had a sinister smirk across his face as he stared at her, seeming to keep her petrified with his gaze. Piccolo glared back at Parseri and barked at her,

"Parseri."

She gasped, jumping slightly as she whipped her head in Piccolo's direction.

"Huh?"

He narrowed his eyes at her with a growl,

"Keep your head in the game, kid. We're gonna need all the help we can get, got it?"

She nodded shakily up at him, glancing back at Vegeta who seemed to be glaring at Piccolo now.

"Well then!" Yamcha smirked, stretching a bit. "Who gets to go first?"

"I'll lead off." The three-eyed man named Tenshinhan replied, stepping forward as he cracked his knuckles. Nappa cackled, planting his hands on his hips.

"Well! This looks like it'll be fun to watch!"

"I agree, Nappa." Vegeta chuckled, folding his arms over his chest. He gestured to one of the Saibaimen in the front row. "You go first, and don't hold back… Understood?"

The creature grinned at Tenshinhan, flexing its claw-like hands eagerly, and he watched it slowly step forward. The two sized each other up, staring at each other for several long moments. The quiet tension was so thick, it was almost unbearable. Everything was still and all eyes were on the silent showdown between the little green creature and the man with the third eye.

The creature suddenly lurched forward, sprinting forward and Tenshinhan retaliated by thrusting a fist full of crackling energy at it, pushing the Saibaman back. The thing replied to his attack by oddly enough, opening up its own cranium, spewing a white, foaming acid towards the group of Earth's defenders. Each of them quickly leaped out of the way, all but Gohan who stood petrified to the spot. Parseri, who was scrambling away in an almost comedic fashion, glanced over her shoulder with a gasp,

"Gohan! _Move!_"

Piccolo jerked his head in Gohan's direction, baring his teeth with slightly widened eyes. The little boy stammered terrified vowels, staring up at the tidal wave of white liquid coming toward him. Suddenly, he was snatched up and pulled far away from the ground that was quickly dissolved away into a long and deep crack, seemingly bottomless. He looked up to see Piccolo's angry face, still glaring at the creature across the field. The child glanced downward at the gaping crevice in the ground astounded, beyond works.

Tenshinhan leaped forward toward the Saibaman and the creature did the same, meeting him mid-air. He landed a critical blow to the green thing's chest, knocking it out of the air like some sort of bug. It landed on the ground with a heavy thud, straining to even move. Tenshinhan landed near his friend who all welcomed him back with victorious cheers.

Nappa stammered, utterly confused at the outcome of the first match.

"But… how? Each of these Saibamen were supposed to be comparable to Raditz's power!"

"This guy must be stronger than that." Vegeta answered.

"That wasn't in our data…"

Vegeta glanced down at the fallen Saibaman with a smirk as it struggled to get back to its feet. As it stood again, Gohan shouted, pointing.

"It's up again!"

Everyone in the group turned to stare at it, but Vegeta's chuckling distracted them. He was smirking at Tenshinhan.

"Well, I must say… for a weak Earthling, you did quite well. But for this to be a true tournament, should there not be a prize of sorts? Something to fight for? That usually makes things more interesting."

He grinned, glancing at the rest of them.

"For the victor… you get to live until the next fight… And for the defeated…"

He thrust his hand forward, two glowing fingers pointing straight at the Saibaman who had just found its feet. The creature barely had the opportunity to shriek in terror as it immediately fell to the ground in a crumpled heap of it's own innards. The group of earth's defenders stood frozen in shock, staring at the pile of green goo and purple entrails. Nappa was also nearly dumbfounded.

"Vegeta… why-"

"He had already lost. That is the price to pay for failure in this game, especially after I specifically told him to go all out. Besides… this is much more exciting…" His eyes locked onto Parseri's, making her jump slightly.

"Don't you think so? What do you say, half breed? Feeling all tingly?"

Her eyes widened in alarm, her mind buzzing, confused.

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"I knocked that whimpering, pathetic nature out of your a long time ago." He grinned, baring his teeth, "And it looks like you've had a bit more practice under somewhat questionable training... But the fact remains that you're closer to your truer Saiyan tendancies now than ever before... You_ love _to fight, don't you, Parseri?" He finished in a silky drawl.

She glared across the field and shouted back at him.

"I'm not like that! I'm not like you!" She clenched her fists at her sides, "If I fight... it's to survive!"

"Ahh, but there's a bit of revenge wrapped up in that as well, isn't there?" He smirked, folding his arms across his chest. It was more of a statement than a question. This caused the stony expression upon her face to falter as she was taken aback by his blunt accusation. He threw his head back and laughed, "Oh it's alright, I'm no fool. In fact I've known longer than you have, I'm sure. And why not? I've taken everything away from you that you've ever loved..."

His voice was cool and mocking, smoothing over every word that left with smirking lips as Nappa chuckled at his side.

"I flew to your planet and burnt your village to the ground. I leveled the terrain so that nothing would ever grow there again... the little that did on that pathetic dustball, anyway. Did you know that between the three of us- Nappa, Raditz and I, it took under an hour to kill and destroy every last ounce of life on that planet?" Vegeta grinned, continuing his onslaught and enjoying the growing look of horror and disgust on her face. "Such a small, pitiful little mudball full of weaklings that barely put up a fight. It was barely worth my time and effort being there, really. Such a disgrace."

Parseri began to shake visibly, her fists clenched and quivering at her sides. She was heaving heavy, angry breaths through bared teeth as she glared daggers at him... But he doubted that she could even see straight anymore with how mad she was. Piccolo glanced at her and muttered warningly at her, "Parseri..."

"Oh... does that make you mad, girl? Well, by all means, do something about it." Vegeta grinned, unfolding his arms and nudging Nappa at his side, "Nappa here was the one who had the pleasure of ridding you of all your friends and family- including your mother who seemed to have a taste for foreign men out of her league. So go on, Parseri... Come and show me everything you've learned to exact your revenge on my life." He barely made it through the last of it without laughing.

A shrieking animalistic sound came out of Parseri that seemed to be powered by all her rage and every ounce of hate that was seeping through her pores. The conflict that had briefly bothered her inside her head about Vegeta? Gone. Only the purest form of loathing remained. She barrelled forward towards him, murder in her eyes.

Piccolo grasped her by the arm, pulling her firmly back with a stern grunt,

"Hey. _No_. Cool off!"

But she couldn't hear him. She began struggling and flailing in his grasp like a wild animal, mad with rage, and elbowed his hard in the face to daze him momentarily.

Vegeta's eyebrows twitched upward for a moment, amused as he witnessed this, watching her scramble forward again. Chuckling grimly, he nodded at the nearest Saibaman to attack... A perfect test of strength.

They met in the middle of the field and clashed violently. Parseri had just intended to barrel through, her sights set only on Vegeta, and smashed her forearm in to the Saibaman's neck with enough force that would have broken a normal man's spine... Only this wasn't a normal creature. It recovered after she passed it by, and began opening up its head to spew it's lethal acid at her back. Luckily for her, Piccolo had also recovered and had caught up with her, Yamcha also out in the field to subdue the Saibaman.

In a few short moments, Yamcha had plowed the creature in the back of the head, dropping it easily to the ground, unconscious. Meanwhile, Piccolo had tackled Parseri and began pulling her back across the field, his arms linked under her armpits in a hold that made her unable to use her arms to attack or wriggle free. Yamcha watched him drag her back toward the group, Parseri writhing and shrieking the entire way.

* * *

Nappa was beside himself with laughter and Vegeta's smirk was growing broader by the second, a grim chuckle rumbling from his chest. She had displayed more power than he had imagined coming from her under such poor supervision. She probably wouldn't be able to do much more than bruise him, but it was pleasing to finally see results from her.

"Hey." His attention fell onto the hooligan with the long hair, who looked rather angry himself. This was the man that his pet had arrived with... and he had seemed somewhat... close to her. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at him as the man spoke again.

"Hey!" Yamcha repeated, his eyebrow twitching as a vein began to bulge from his forehead, "Why don't we just cut all the bullshit here, and get down to business. I easily finished off this one here..." He pointed at the twitching Saibaman at his feet, "Let me take on the rest of them."

Vegeta chortled. Oh? Was he trying to punish him for getting under the girl's skin by killing all of his Saibamen at once? That would be the day... As if he had any right to defend what honestly didn't belong to him, anyway. His gaze flickered to the crumpled creature at the man's feet with a growing grin. The Saibaman twitched again a few more times, and Vegeta knew that he wouldn't labor under that delusion for much longer.

Across the field, Piccolo still had Parseri in a hold and Krillen had just about managed to get her to calm down. When she was calm enough to set down again, Piccolo placed her feet on the ground and whirled her around to face him, pinching her chin between his fingers to make certain that her eyes were on his.

"Listen up kid, don't make me regret bringing you out here. You've got to keep your cool out there, or you're gonna-" But a movement out on the field made him stop mid-sentence. The Saibaman had leapt from the ground at Yamcha's feet and latched around his torso, locking his hands and feet together to stay in place.

Seeing Piccolo's expression change caused Parseri to whip her head around with a gasp. The rest of the group stared along with them in shock and confusion... But what was that creature...

And then it exploded. The Saibaman itself, self-destructed somehow after latching onto Yamcha, taking him with it. Krillen gave a pained shout and Parseri screamed, but no one else could make a sound. When the dust and smoke cleared Yamcha's crumpled body laid still amongst a few scattered body parts.

"Yamcha..." Parseri whispered in a shaky breath. Krillen sprinted out to where he lay on the field, shakily kneeling before him. Piccolo slowly gripped her arm, preemptively keeping her in place. When she heard the strangled cry from the field, she knew what had happened... and Piccolo didn't need to keep hold of her. The energy to run out onto the field had been completely sapped from her body.

Yamcha was dead. Yamcha was dead and it was entirely her fault.


End file.
